Treble trouble in herd hit by disease
After BSE depopulation, a new herd number was allocated, and animals were purchased with a view to resuming milk production.
Then came the failed milk test which indicated brucellosis.
A subsequent restriction notification was served on the herd, and a decision was taken by the Department of Agriculture and Food to depopulate the herd.
When it came to brucellosis reactor compensation, the Department decided that a 25% penalty should be levied because a post-movement blood test had not been carried out within the 30-day time period for the majority of the animals that were depopulated.
There is a legal requirement to pre-movement test all eligible animals for brucellosis, except those going direct to slaughter.
But there are other minimum requirements to qualify for the highest rate of brucellosis compensation. They include post-movement testing of all eligible animals bought-in since the last herd test, and it must be carried out in the six months before a breakdown and within 30 days of purchase, in order to get the full reactor compensation on offer.
The farmer argued to the Agriculture Appeals Office that blood testing was delayed until all the purchases were completed.
Arrangements had been made with the vet to do the test, but notification of the failed milk test came the day before the test.
The farmer understood that the best practice was to blood test the entire herd on a single occasion.
He expressed major concern about how the Department informs herdowners of the implications of the 30-day post-movement test requirement, in a document issued in August 1998 to all herdowners.
In a 2003 letter to farmers on their TB and Brucellosis Eradication obligations, there was no mention of the 30-day post-movement test, said the farmer.
However, the Agriculture Appeals Officer ruled that post-movement blood test information was provided to farmers by the Department in March 2002 and in annual publications, and disallowed the appeal.
