DAFM to continue engaging on TB plan amid roll-out criticism
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has said that his department will continue to communicate and engage on the roll-out of changes under the TB Action Plan.
The minister's comment comes after one farm organisation strongly criticised the roll-out this week of the new testing and animal movement regime under the TB Action Plan, claiming it has been "shambolic".
The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) claimed that the information campaign that the minister and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) undertook to communicate the changes to farmers has been "inadequate and deeply confusing for farmers and marts".
"Minister Heydon's TB Action Plan has now been implemented, but the way in which it has been communicated to stakeholders has been shambolic," David Hall, the IFA's animal health chairperson, said.
A spokesperson for the department said that the recent changes to the TB programme were introduced under the TB Action Plan that was published last year following "intensive engagement" with farm organisations.
"The minister wrote directly to all farmers last month advising them of the introduction of changes to the TB programme and urging farmers to familiarise themselves with the changes. There has also been communications and engagement with livestock marts in relation to these changes," the spokesperson said.
However, the IFA animal health chair said: "An information leaflet was issued to every herd owner [that] failed to clearly outline the new testing requirements. Instead, it vaguely referenced changes across different categories of animals, leaving farmers with more questions than answers."
According to the IFA, the publication of three herd categories, used to determine which herds (or controlled finishing units) can buy in which animals, has "only added to the confusion".
The IFA said no direct communication has been issued to farmers outlining which category their herd falls into.
"Farmers have been left in the dark as to whether they are in category 1, 2 or 3. These labels are meaningless without clear explanations, and there has been no effort made to directly inform individual farmers of their status,” Hall claimed.
"This lack of clarity has led to widespread uncertainty among farmers and mart managers as to which herds are permitted to purchase certain animals."
"Marts are now enforcing rules that have not been clearly communicated to them,” the IFA animal health chair said.
In a short statement on the matter, Minister Heydon said: "I understand the significant financial and emotional difficulty a TB breakdown can have and the importance of these changes to address the TB situation.
"My department will continue to communicate and engage on the roll-out of this very important plan," he added.
The department said it continues to engage with livestock marts, and update its dedicated TB website for all herdowners with updated advice on these changes.
IFA concerns
Apart from the concerns expressed above, the IFA also claimed that the leaflet delivered to every herd owner has a QR code that directs herd owners to the department's online TB page, where there is a set of 'frequently asked questions', but the answers provided to those questions "directly contradict" the TB Action Plan.
"If the department cannot get its own information straight, how can it expect farmers or marts to interpret and implement these rules correctly?” David Hall said.
Despite that engagement on the TB Action Plan last year, Hall claimed that, if the department had "engaged meaningfully" with stakeholders prior to implementation of the new measures, many of these issues "could have been identified and resolved".
"Instead, we are now dealing with a completely avoidable mess."
He called on the department to "take responsibility" for this confusion, and to allow for a "substantial lead-in" period before enforcing these measures.
Less than 10% of sales impacted
According to the department, the changes introduced relate "primarily" to the sale of cows and any males aged 36 months of age or over, with "no impact" on the sale through livestock marts or farm to farm sales of other categories of animals.
In the week from March 30 to April 3, there were approximately 51,000 bovines sold through livestock marts, of which approximately 4,000 were cows.
According to the department, this demonstrates that these changes impact on less than 10% of sales through marts currently.
