A farm organisation has called for the bluetongue vaccine option to be included in more schemes.

Bluetongue vaccination will be included as an option in the 2026 beef and sheep welfare schemes, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon confirmed this week.

It is expected that the 2026 National Sheep Welfare Scheme (NSWS) will open for applications in the first half of April.

Similar to previous years, the 2026 Beef Welfare Scheme (BWS) is due to open in August.

ICMSA reaction

The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) has welcomed the addition of bluetongue vaccination as an option in these schemes.

However, ICMSA's livestock committee chairperson, Michael O'Connell, said that he believes there are "more practical options that could be offered to livestock farmers that would encourage and help them to protect their herds against infection from bluetongue".

“ICMSA wants farmers to be proactive over the next short while in anticipation of the breeding season to ensure they have minimised the chances of infection," O'Connell said.

"We have to be; the effects of the virus as reported to us by colleagues in other member states is seriously detrimental in terms of abortions, foetal abnormalities, ill thrift, loss of thrive and, in most severe cases, death."

Focus

O'Connell said that the "immediate focus" must be on "encouraging and supporting farmers in terms of the purchase and utilising vaccines".

He said the introduction of a bluetongue vaccine option in the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) could "potentially prove very useful in the long run".

"Our feeling would be that if we face issues regarding BTV cases, we will find issues with farmers meeting the criteria requirements in SCEP such as meeting the requirement of calving at least 50% of the yearly reference number," O’Connell said.

“This could be a circular problem: if we see issues regarding missed heats, abortions, late calving, there is going to be massive implications for farmers here as it will affect them meeting their yearly reference number calving requirement.

O’Connell also called for the vaccine option to be included in the Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme.

“Our members are currently spending thousands on an annual basis on routine vaccines such as salmonella, lepto, rotavirus, IBR, etc; the addition of an extra vaccination is another headache," he said.

"The option should be included as an amendment to the Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme for farmers to select use of BTV vaccination for their breeding animals or the weighing of that scheme year’s calves."

He added that farmers need to be rewarded for "best practice" and "we need to encourage and assure the livelihood of our farmers by protecting their herds".

"The weighing component of the scheme is helpful from a performance point of view, but the €20/head payment would go a long way towards herd vaccination," O'Connell added.