Live exports to Belgium recover despite IBR

Live cattle exports to Belgium have recovered, having ground to a halt in 2015 due to Ireland’s inferior national herd health status for IBR (infectious bovine rhinotracheitis).

Nearly 4,000 animals have gone to Belgium so far this year, in a renewed trade which had collapsed from 21,757 in 2014 to about 1,000 across 2015 and 2016.

The upsurge in the trade has come as a surprise amid widespread warnings that our live cattle trade would be hit by changes in animal health rules across the EU, particularly in Belgium, but also in the Netherlands.