There are over 1.5m calves likely to be born from late January to the end of April, all of which have to be tagged, registered and have tissue samples collected and submitted for analysis.

The workload involved has increased massively in recent years for expanding dairy farms. Refreshing yourself with the rules and regulations can help avoid issues and prevent potential penalties to farm payments.

Registration, tagging and movements

Department of Agriculture rules state that all calves must be tagged before they reach 20 days of age and registered before they reach 27 days of age.

The Department’s agfood.ie online facility for registering calves now handles over 60% of all calf registrations and will identify issues such as late registrations.

Where hardcopy applications are being used, they must be sent to allow animals to be registered within 27 days of age.

In terms of movements, the current legislation states that calves cannot be moved prior to their navel being fully healed.

Farmers should note that the Department is considering increasing the minimum age for movements to 10 days of age, so stay informed of updates in this area.

With regards notifying the Department of farm-to-farm movements, this must take place within seven days of the movement.

Calves from non-TB restricted herds can be traded without being TB tested under 42 days of age, but once they reach 42 days they must be TB tested.

BVD financial support

Minister Michael Creed announced in December 2017 that the Department was happy with progress in the Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) Eradication Programme and committed to continuing its support package for 2018.

The financial supports are reliant on early removal of persistently infected (PI) calves with a two-tiered payment influenced by the speed at which PI animals are removed from the herd in place, as explained below.

Dairy

  • €150 if the female dairy and dairy-cross calves are removed within 21 days (three weeks) of the first positive or inconclusive test.
  • €35 if the female dairy and dairy-cross calves are removed between day 22 and 35 (the fourth and fifth week) of the first positive or inconclusive test.
  • €30 towards the disposal of dairy bull calves through the abattoir or knackery within 21 days of the first positive or inconclusive test.

    • Beef

  • €185 if the calf is removed within 21 days (three weeks) of the first positive or inconclusive test.
  • €60 if the calf is removed between day 22 and 35 (fourth and fifth week) of the first positive or inconclusive test.

    • Initial test

    Compulsory tissue-tagging remains in place for 2018 and Animal Health Ireland (AHI) continues to advise farmers to test calves as soon as possible after birth.

    The terms and conditions for the Department’s 2018 BVD financial supports have not been released yet, but it is expected that they will be similar to the 2017 scheme. This stated that for animals to be eligible for inclusion in the scheme, BVD samples must be collected within 20 days of birth and submitted to an approved laboratory for testing.

    The Department has also confirmed that the system of automatically restricting herds, which was introduced in February 2017, is continuing in 2018.

    Restrictions will apply five weeks following the date of the original positive or inconclusive test.

    Confirmatory testing will be available through blood sampling carried out by private veterinary practitioners.

    The cost of collection of blood samples from the calf and its dam will be covered by the Department.

    Furthermore, mandatory investigation of herds where a PI has been identified remains in place and this service will continue to be funded through the Rural Development Plan 2014 to 2020.

    Retesting decisions

    Where a positive or inconclusive result is obtained from the initial test, AHI advises farmers to consult their vet as they will be able to analyse the test reading and be best placed to advise if the calf should be removed immediately or if a retest should be carried out.

    Where a retest is selected, then this can only be carried out through a blood test by your vet.

    BDGP requirements

  • Animals must be registered in accordance with Department of Agriculture requirements. Failure to register a calf within 27 days of birth will result in the animal being made ineligible for payment and possibly lead to other penalties.
  • The terms and conditions of the scheme were revised in late 2017, with notification sent to farmers by post. It states that: “No BDGP payment will be made in a programme year unless all BVD Persistently Infected animals born prior to the 1 January of that year have a date of death recorded on the Animal Identification and Movements (AIM) system prior to the 31 March of the programme year.” For example, for the 2018 scheme year, any PI animal born in 2017 must be removed from the farm to a knackery/abattoir/meat plant by 31 March 2018.

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