In the event of a bluetongue outbreak in NI, animals that are culled for disease control will not be covered by full compensation payments from DAERA.

“If bluetongue-positive animals are culled, compensation will be paid at 50% of market value,” said Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir.

In response to a written question from the DUP’s Michelle McIlveen, Minister Muir pointed out that no compensation will be available for animals that are imported into NI.

“Any imported animals that are found to be infected with bluetongue during post-import checks will be culled, with no compensation payable,” he said.

The BTV-3 strain of bluetongue has continued to spread in eastern areas of England in recent days, with the virus confirmed on 70 premises by Wednesday.

Explaining the culling protocol in England during a recent online event, UK chief vet Dr Christine Middlemiss said the first animals to test positive in an area were culled.

“If you think you only have one [infected] animal in a premise, or you don’t know how your outbreak is going to pan out, it is worth trying to reduce the level of the virus on that premises,” she said.

However, culling was scaled back in the affected area of southeast England, when there was clear evidence that the disease was spreading to cattle through the local midge population.

“Once you have localised spreading in an area, culling is of no benefit,” Middlemiss said.

IFA and UFU call for livestock import ban from Europe

The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has joined the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) and other industry bodies in NI by calling for a ban on livestock imports from Europe. The farm groups want live imports on to the island of Ireland paused to protect both jurisdictions from the spread of bluetongue.

“Both the north and south of Ireland have managed to remain free from bluetongue to date, but the threat it now poses for our beef and sheep farms is huge,” said UFU president William Irvine.

While live imports from farms in Britain are already banned, livestock movements from continental Europe remain open at present.

Figures from DAERA show that 48 cattle have been imported into NI from outside Britain and Ireland so far this year.

A breakdown of the imports indicates that 36 of these cattle have moved into NI since June, which is the highest risk period for bluetongue spread.