Livestock controls vital to retain ‘quality food island’ label
Both were singled out for mention by Dr Patrick Wall of UCD at the Agricultural Science Association conference, where he highlighted the need for controls to maintain our quality food image.
He said Ireland may rue the day restrictions were relaxed on importing livestock — and the exotic diseases they carry.
We can’t point the finger at what other countries do without realising that all is not as good as it could be at home, when it comes to animal health. New livestock diseases here could yet seriously damage our food exports to increasingly conscious and quality-aware markets. Many in farming raised their concerns at the risk of undesirable imports, when control measures on livestock coming into Irish herds from abroad were relaxed. They were ignored, but have been proven right, regrettably. Dr Wall raised a pertinent question for every dairy farmer to consider. “Ireland is a leading producer of infant milk formula products. But what argument would we use to retain manufacturers, if they considered moving to New Zealand because of Johne’s disease or elevated levels of somatic cell count in our national dairy herd?”
