Pneumonia vaccinations for cattle

LIVE cattle exporters have come together as a group to boost the health of all weanlings this autumn.

They have launched an initiative named WEP (Weanling Export Partnership) under which farmers, who dose and vaccinate their weanlings against pneumonia under a certifiable programme with their vet, will receive a bonus of €10 per animal on top of the price in the mart ring.

The top-up is to offset the cost of treating the calf and will be paid by the buyer which in many cases will be a live exporter. Vaccination is aimed at boosting the health of the weanling and preventing a repeat of deaths which occurred last autumn.

Nine marts, including Cahersiveen, Kenmare and Tralee in Kerry, Gort and Ballinasloe in Galway, the Golden Marts in Limerick, Offaly and Leitrim, have already committed to operating the WEP bonus.

Cahersiveen has already run a very successful WEP type show and sale where the 10 bonus was collected from the buyer and passed onto the seller.

Discussions are continuing with the country’s other top weanling marts to encourage participation in the initiative, currently supported by fifteen exporters.

Every autumn about 500,000 weanlings are traded in Ireland but pneumonia last autumn resulted in heavy losses.

Spanish and Italian buyers are refusing non vaccinated weanlings from Ireland between September and January.