TB testing

The IFA has called on the Minister for Agriculture to stand firm on the outright rejection of the proposal in the new EU Animal Health Law Delegated Act to impose 30-day pre-movement testing for TB on all herds that are more than six months tested. The only beneficiaries of this proposal will be vets and factories at the expense of farmers.

RDP

A detailed discussion took place on the future of locally led schemes in the next RDP at the recent IFA national hill committee meeting. Margaret Murray, DAFM, outlined that over 70% of the schemes operate in seven upland area projects. A total of 1,600 farmers benefit from the Hen Harrier Scheme.

Milk price

IFA national dairy committee chair Tom Phelan said Ireland’s main milk purchasing co-ops had underperformed massively in the Dutch LTO European milk league in the last 12 months.” In a couple of weeks’ time, co-op boards will start to consider their June milk prices.