Review sought on costs for fallen animals

THE Dept. of Agriculture has been asked to revisit the whole issue of fallen animals and the costs of collection currently being borne by farmers.

According to the IFA many farmers in different parts of the country are experiencing difficulties and high costs when it comes to the collection of fallen animals by the knackeries.

The Chairman of the IFA’s National Animal Health Committee, Bert Stewart has hit out at ‘the lack of action’ by the Dept. of Agriculture in providing a cost effective and competitive fallen animal service across the country.

“There are more cost effective structures implemented in other EU countries which provide all farmers with a fallen animal collection system at reasonable collection rates. The Department must move to implement similar systems for Irish farmers,” said Mr. Stewart.

He has also asked the Dept. of Agriculture to take an in-depth look at an alternative system in place in Holland where one provider services an entire region for fees ‘that were a fraction of those charged to Irish farmers’.

Mr. Stewart also questioned the wisdom of the Dept. of Agriculture decision to impose a maximum 125km. (78 miles) distance requirement for the TSE subsidy scheme

“This has removed vital competition from the area and resulted in increased fees being charged to farmers. Despite this, the Department has refused to reverse this decision,” said Bert Stewart.

He said that the Department needed to take a far more proactive and supportive role on an issue that was an integral part of Ireland’s production standards and traceability systems.

Galway IFA Chairman, Pat Murphy, also called for the Department to prioritise the issue of fallen animals on Irish farms given the costs involved.

“It’s bad enough for farmers to lose an animal but to then have a worry and a major cost factor in relation to removing this animal is just not good enough.

“We do feel very strongly that the costs associated with the removal of dead animals from farms is far too high – it really is an issue where the Department needs to adopt a more hands-on approach,” said Pat Murphy.

TSE testing on dead animals checks out that they are clear of Transform Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE), known in cattle as BSE or Mad Cow Disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathies).