AgriSearch, Northern Ireland's farmer-funded research organisation, has published a review of the evidence behind the wildlife options that the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is weighing to fight bovine tuberculosis (bTB). It examined non-selective culling, Test and Vaccinate or Remove (TVR) and vaccination only, alongside an independent review of DAERA's economic appraisal by The Andersons Centre.
"Wildlife intervention cannot be considered in isolation from cattle measures, but equally the wildlife reservoir has to be addressed if we are serious about eradication," said AgriSearch chair Norman McMordie. The review argues that intervention should aim to reduce bTB "as rapidly as can be reasonably achieved".
It raises four issues. Results proven in cattle through field studies need to be separated from outcomes predicted by computer models, since the three options rest on evidence of different kinds and strength. DAERA's non-monetary and risk scores involve subjective judgements and are given equal weight with the economics, and AgriSearch asks the department to justify both, because changing either could change the ranking. DAERA has "likely underestimated" the costs farmers bear in herd breakdowns, partly by using data from as far back as 2010-11; AgriSearch wants a more recent Andersons study for the Livestock and Meat Commission, the Ulster Farmers' Union and the Dairy Council to be the benchmark. And reliable, current information on badger numbers is needed to plan any intervention and cost it.
DAERA has extended its public consultation on wildlife intervention options by two weeks; it now closes on Friday 9 October. AgriSearch has published a short evidence briefing, its full response and the Andersons review so farmers can use them in their own submissions.
Diana Armstrong, who chairs the Northern Ireland Assembly's agriculture committee, urged farmers to respond. She said bTB costs Northern Ireland more than £150 million a year, almost £100 million of it falling directly on farmers. McMordie said uncertainty in so complex a disease should not become "a reason for inaction".
Photo: kallerna / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Agriland
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