Beef HealthCheck now covering 65% of beef kill across 17 factories
Animal Health Ireland (AHI) has recently marked the tenth anniversary of its Beef HealthCheck (BHC) programme.
Since its launch, the programme has assessed more than 7.7 million animals and issued over one million reports to 64,000 farmers across Ireland, according to AHI.
The initiative now covers approximately 65% of the national kill across 17 factories.
In 2025, almost 92,000 reports were issued covering 783,000 cattle from 22,100 herds.
Trends in the Beef HealthCheck reports
In 2024, a spike in liver fluke prevalence was observed. AHI attributed this to weather conditions.
The 2025 data shows active liver fluke infections to be down 29% year-on-year.
"This is a direct reflection of farmers acting on the intelligence the programme provides alongside the industry promoting effective liver fluke management," according to AHI.
The data has also shown that liver abscess levels remain stable and that pneumonia prevalence is slightly up but remains low overall.
Programme manager comments
Commenting on the initiative, Dr. Natascha Meunier, BHC programme manager at AHI, said: "For 10 years, Beef HealthCheck has delivered real, measurable benefits for farmers, their vets and the wider industry.
"Healthy animals are the bedrock of everything we do as an export-focused beef-producing country.
"At a time when production is contracting globally, the health advantage Ireland can demonstrate through programmes like this is not marginal, it is central to our ongoing success."
“I pay tribute to the collective efforts of everyone in the industry, especially participating processors in Meat Industry Ireland (MII) and their farmer suppliers as well as the temporary veterinary inspectors collecting the information who have engaged so meaningfully in making the Beef HealthCheck such a success.
"We now look forward with excitement to the next decade of the programme ensuring it continues to deliver.”
Regional analysis
Regional analysis of data collected through the Beef HealthCheck programme has highlighted persistent liver fluke pressure in north-western counties.
Looking at the data nationally, within-herd infection rates are often lower than farmers assume, according to AHI.
This indicates that targeted, evidence-based treatment decisions rather than blanket intervention is often the best course of action.
Notably, the data has shown that 11.2% of herds sending 10 or more animals to slaughter over the past decade have shown no evidence of liver fluke - reinforcing the case for tailored parasite control and prudent anthelmintic use, AHI has said.
Flagship beef health programme
Described by AHI as "Ireland's flagship beef health programme" the Beef HealthCheck programme is also said to be "one of the most comprehensive post-mortem surveillance programmes in European beef production which gives direct feedback to farmers" and also "has been key in ensuring healthier beef animals".
Delivered in partnership with participating Meat Industry Ireland (MII) members and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), BHC "converts routine abattoir data into actionable herd health intelligence, giving farmers direct, practical feedback on liver fluke, liver abscess and pneumonia identified at slaughter".
The 10-year milestone "underlines how farm-level health data, applied consistently at scale, can transform an entire industry's competitive position", AHI said.
