The National Beef Association has criticised the apparent haste at which proposals to eradicate bovine viral diarrhoea from the Scottish cattle herd are being pushed through.
Scottish chairman Hamish McBean said the industry should be taking stock and seeking to use a voluntary approach to control the problem for as long as possible rather than quickly moving, as has been touted, to a mandatory eradication plan within two years of any initiative starting.
He is also calling for an education programme to show farmers the benefits of tackling the disease.
Mr McBean also wants cash the government has suggested is used to offset the costs of culling infected animals to instead be diverted to blood testing animals for BVD.
He believes that will be a more successful approach in winning over farmers to the idea and in letting them remove from their herds at their own pace so-called PIs, the persistently infected animals that spread BVD.
The approach puts the NBA distinctly out on a limb among groups representing the livestock sector.
Mr McBean, who farms at Score, Glenferness, near Nairn, said: “Testing for BVD in the suckler herd cannot be done, on a routine basis, through the milk as it will be for the dairy herd. Each suckler cow will have to be individually blood tested with the owner facing both veterinary and laboratory costs, which stacked together, could become a disincentive to quickly joining at the early stages. Better overall national coverage, and the more efficient removal of the dangerously infected PIs, will be more easily achieved if suckled calf breeders did not face this sector specific charge and BVD reduction was uniform across both beef and dairy cows alike.”
Mr McBean said with only 17% of the beef herd showing evidence of BVD infection, compared with 40% among dairy animals, it was wrong for beef farmers to be landed with significant animal testing costs. He too felt there would be more goodwill if the mandatory element of the scheme was delayed until the voluntary stage was at its mopping-up stage.
He added: “Farmers as a group respond much better to carrots rather than sticks and it could be counterproductive, even disruptive, if the compulsory stick was introduced too early and vets arrived on farms each year to force removal.
“This campaign should focus instead on making sure every cattle farmer in Scotland understands the benefits of eradicating the disease as quickly as possible.”
Mr McBean said steps would have to be taken to avoid PIs entering Scotland after any eradication programme has started. That meant all incoming breeding cattle having to be pre-movement tested.
The government has, meanwhile, extended the deadline for responses to its BVD consultation until Friday, July 16.
NFU Scotland vice-president Nigel Miller said he could not stress enough the importance that every beef and dairy farmer takes the time to look at what is proposed and then respond.
He added: “We believe that BVD is of such serious financial and welfare significance to all Scottish cattle herds that it needs to be tackled in a positive manner.
“We think that eradication is realistic, and potentially cost effective, but only if the scheme is national, with an element of compulsion.”
The union is holding a meeting to discuss the consultation in Huntingtower Hotel, Perth, on Thursday at 7.30pm.