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The Department of Agriculture’s latest bovine TB figures show that reactor numbers continue to climb, with a 12-month herd incidence rate of 4.73%. This incidence is the highest it has been in recent years, up from 4.31% recorded in 2022 and 3.51% in 2018.
The metric equates to TB being detected in almost one in every 20 herds across the country over the 12-month span.
The new results show that 25,916 cattle showed up with TB during testing in the 12 months up to October, up 22% on the 21,183 reactors reported for same stage of 2022.
A total of 4,868 herds were restricted in the 12 months up to October, a rise of over 500 on the previous year.
Rising disease levels are also pushing the cost of the Department’s TB eradication programme upwards.
The Department spent €49.9m on controlling the disease to-date this year, a jump of about 40% on the costs up to quarter three of 2022.
The largest cost rise went to farmers through on-farm market valuations. This cost hit €20.7m by quarter three, a 51% year-on-year increase.
Some €3.7m went on compensating farmers, €9.9m to vet fees, €7.1m on supplies and €6.3m on the wildlife components of the programme.
Funding for TB research since the beginning of the year has almost tripled on the research funds drawn down by the same time in 2022, but the overall spend remains relatively small at €832,000.
Despite the rise in TB reactor numbers, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue told the Irish Farmers Journal last week that there has been no upward revision of the expected €1bn direct cost of the current 10-year eradication programme. “It’s fair to say our projections remain our projections,” he stated.
An additional €57m was granted to the Department for its TB programme in Budget 2024.
The €1bn cost figure was estimated when herd incidence sat lower than it is currently and when yearly reactor numbers were also lower than the latest figures show. The most expensive aspects of the programme, such as cattle valuations and vet fees, have also increased significantly.
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