Excellent news for farmers who had made huge eradication sacrifices
He said the reduction was excellent news for farmers who had made huge sacrifices to address the problem, but added that the cost of the scheme has declined substantially, and called on the Minister for Agriculture and Food to reduce farmers’ contribution.
Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan has set the ultimate goal of brucellosis eradication as a realistic prospect, after cases were reduced by at least 50% over the past year. Laboratory positive cases were down by 66%, numbers of herds and animals depopulated by 60%, and there were only 144 new herd restrictions in 2005, representing a fall of almost 50% from 2004.
