Cattle plans set to have major impact

Marts: A tightening of the regulations on acceptance of dirty cattle for slaughter at factories could cause problems for producers over the coming weeks.

Factory buyers are this week warning producers of a clampdown on the slaughter of category four and category five cattle on the cleanliness scale because of a tightening in the enforcement of the EU regulations on the slaughter of dirty cattle which the factories point out they are obliged to comply with.

A senior factory source said yesterday: “Farmers would be advised not to bring dirty cattle to the factory, because they will not be accepted for slaughter and under the disease control regulations suppliers will not be permitted to return the animals to the farm.”

He said the animals may have to be held in lairage at the factory until they are clean enough to be slaughtered — a situation neither desirable for the factory or the farmer.

In addition to the consequences of weight loss in the animals, unless an adequate high quality diet is provided, there are no guidelines as to who pays for the maintenance, but it is unlikely factories will carry the cost.

The problem of dirty cattle — for which it is very early in the season — appears to be most prevalent in some areas of the south, because of the diet on which the animals are being fed this year.

Straw for bedding of housed animals is also in tighter supply this year because of the uptake to replace the shortage of silage feeding on many farms due to the particularly dry summer and poor growth.

Regulations regarding the slaughter of dirty cattle is relatively new and was introduced to prevent the possible contamination of the carcass with E Coli 157 bacteria following slaughter at the factories.

Clipping of cattle — at the producers’ expense — was introduced as a possible solution, but this is not considered a solution for very dirty cattle, which factories may have to refuse to accept.