DEAR EDITOR

News that an IBR programme is being considered is welcome indeed. The instinct is to push back against yet another imposition on herdowners but let’s consider the positives.

IBR is a viral disease that affects, often undetected, many cattle in Ireland. It can lie dormant in a carrier animal and then be activated by stress, for example at housing or weaning, to cause considerable loss in performance and thrive.

It is estimated to cost the industry €60m per year. There is another very important aspect that might be overlooked and that is if we have a healthier national herd, we ultimately use less antibiotics. This is vital for human health and important in tackling the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance.

Calf exports may be the catalyst for the introduction of a programme, but the benefits extend way beyond the access for live animals to continental feedlots. It is true that the BVD programme has a much longer “tail” to it than anyone would like.

All sides have something to learn from that experience, but to say that we should not consider another viral control programme until that one is finished is not prudent. Viruses do not wait patiently in line while another one is being tackled. As an industry, we have shown a capacity to multitask and anyway many farmers are already vaccinating for IBR so we have a good starting point.

IBR was identified as a known risk to our industry some years back. We are too important an industry not to heed known risks.