25-04-2025
Rising TB numbers are ‘soul destroying' for farm families
Rising TB numbers in Co. Monaghan are 'soul destroying' for farm families, the Fine Gael councillor for Ballybay – Clones, Sean Gilliland has told Agriland.
According to Gilliland, cases of TB are rising in Monaghan and Cavan, and the area seems to be the 'highlight' of the disease.
The councillor has called on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) to provide more information about the current TB vaccination system.
He said: 'TB is a big problem in Monaghan. It's ongoing, farmers are not happy with it. They're under a lot of stress at the minute. When you see a herd of cows that's three generations in the making, and a fourth about to take over, wiped, it's hard to stand and look at it.
'There's a number of facets to this. If you have a reactor herd, then you have the grief of every farmer adjoining them having to get tested, and continue testing. It's bad enough for the family farm that has the reactors, but everybody beside it gets it as well.
'It all feeds into the problem about TB and the vaccination system. The department will probably claim that it's working, but it's not working well enough because cases have risen.'
The councillor said that he would like to speak with DAFM to see what progress could be made.
'There was a previous programme where badgers were culled and sent them off for testing. They've changed to a catch, vaccinate and release system. The lack of information is the problem,' he said.
'Farmers don't know if all badgers are vaccinated, how does the vaccine work, do they tag them and recatch them and check, it's so scanty, the information about what the system is. The numbers are rising and rising. The number of badgers are rising, and the TB numbers are rising. There's a definite relationship there.'
'It's beggars belief that the department won't give us that information,' he added.
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The Fine Gael councillor believes that the department may have to start culling badgers once again.
He said: 'My honest opinion, is that DAFM will have to go back to the previous system, where they were culling badgers.
'Nobody wants to make any species extinct, the only thing we want to make extinct is the god damn disease.
'If this was a disease in anything else, there would be uproar. It's just become the norm now, farmers take it. There's a wellbeing issue for the farming communities. You see a farmer who has just tested clear in great form, because once he's clear he's clear,' he added.
