Former Macra president Thomas Duffy has questioned the foundations of Ireland's bovine tuberculosis regime, telling a panel discussion on Agriland's live stream from the 2026 National Ploughing Championships that the skin test "is nonsense when we know there's TB in an area" and that eradication will never be achieved with it.

Duffy, who farms in Co. Cavan, drew on his own herd's breakdown this year. "We went down in March this year, and essentially, it's a perfect example of trying to do everything right, the mental strain of it, and getting nowhere," he told Agriland editor Stella Meehan. A skin test found six inconclusive animals; a blood test of the whole herd, including yearling heifers, followed, and the farm lost 24 animals in all without ever having a full reactor on the first test. A retest last week found six more on the skin test. "It has unquestionably shaken my confidence in the TB regime in general," he said.

He said the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine had "responded well" to his proactive approach but that "bureaucratic nonsense" got in the way: six of the animals identified in the latest test were still on his farm, and he knew of farmers waiting weeks to have reactors removed. "If we're dealing with this disease for what it is, a highly infectious disease, we need to see better commitments for moving these animals," he said, adding that keeping reactors on a paddock means the paddock should be reseeded because TB can persist there for three months.

Duffy's central argument was for blood testing. Of 11 animals his blood test identified, eight had lesions two weeks after the skin test had passed them. He also objected to rules that tie blood testing to herd size and type: his 94-cow dairy herd is obliged to blood test, a 79-cow herd or a 120-cow suckler or beef herd is not, though "it's fundamentally the same disease circulating in the same animal". Blood testing, he said, should be required wherever there is a confirmed breakdown.

On wildlife he was blunt: campaigns around "fluffy badgers" had left sick badgers behind because the disease is not being eradicated properly, and one in five badgers being allowed to sicken gives the animals no advantage. He called for an "all-of-politics approach", PCR testing, bulk-tank monitoring and the right for farmers to volunteer their herds for more frequent blood tests.

"They talk about the cost rising to €200 million. How many billions have we wasted now with this piecemeal, piecemeal, piecemeal approach," Duffy said, pointing to Australia, which "went hard" and eradicated the disease in a farmer-led programme. He also criticised advice such as cleaning water troughs after each animal drinks, which he said no farmer can do. Charles O'Donnell reported the discussion for Agriland.

Source: Agriland