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Knackery reports of a major hike in on-farms deaths due to the fodder crisis have yet to be backed up by official Department of Agriculture figures.
Figures from the Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) system show that an additional 4,399 cattle died on farms in January and February 2018 compared to the same period last year. This was an 8.39% increase relative to 2017.
Within that figure, the largest category of dead animals was cows. An extra 2,043 cows died on farms in January and February this year compared to January and February 2017.
Overall, the AIM system recorded a 4.56% increase in cattle birth registrations for January and February this year compared to the same period last year.
Provisional information
Current figures for March show that on-farm cattle deaths in March 2018 stood at 41,633, which is down on the 43,732 that died in March 2017.
However, the Department of Agriculture has warned that this is provisional information and could change significantly.
There is a seven-day window for knackeries to notify AIM of fallen animals.
“This notification is a paper-based system and in very busy periods there may be a delay in notifications to AIM,” a spokesperson for the Department said.
Knackeries have reported very high levels of fallen animals, in some cases two and three times the normal daily intake.
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