Joint Ireland-NI bovine TB project secures £9.6m
© Adobe Stock Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have released further details on a cross-border bovine TB research project targeting wildlife, cattle and farm biosecurity in border regions.
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) has secured £4m from the public sector Transformation Fund for the initiative, which will operate across the Derry City and Strabane area and north-east Donegal.
The project has already received about £5.6m through the Irish government’s Shared Island Fund.
See also: Stormont backs urgent action on NI bovine TB crisis
Daera agriculture minister Andrew Muir said the project marked the first regional approach of its kind on the island of Ireland aimed at reducing bovine tuberculosis (TB) through a co-ordinated package of measures.
Control measures
The programme will target bovine TB transmission through simultaneous action involving wildlife management, enhanced cattle testing and greater farmer engagement on biosecurity.
Measures included
- A test and vaccinate or remove strategy for badgers, subject to statutory approvals. Badgers will be trapped and tested for bovine TB, with animals testing negative vaccinated and those testing positive removed.
- Cattle measures will include increased use of interferon gamma blood testing in breakdown herds, six-monthly skin testing trials and genotyping analysis to support herd breeding management.
- Farmers in the project area will also receive additional biosecurity advice from private vets, alongside the creation of regional eradication partnership groups involving local producers.
Regional approaches
Mr Muir welcomed the additional funding and said lessons from other countries suggested regional approaches were essential in tackling the disease.
“The allocation of transformation funding, in addition to the funding already committed by the Irish government under the Shared Island Initiative, is very welcome,” he said.
“International experience has shown that no country has been successful in substantially reducing or eradicating bovine TB without the progression of a regionalisation approach.
“Successful completion of this project will help develop further evidence on which to base future deployment of measures within the wider bovine TB Programme.”
Daera said farmer engagement had been strong so far, with about 96% of farmers in the project area already granting permission for badger sett surveys on their land, which began in January.
Cost to industry
Bovine TB continues to place significant pressure on Northern Ireland’s farming sector, with 476 new reactor herds and 4,462 reactor animals recorded since the start of the year.
In 2025, a total of 2,034 new reactor herds and 18,483 reactor animals were identified, with annual herd incidence reaching 9.9%.
An independent study by The Andersons Centre, commissioned by the Dairy Council for Northern Ireland, Ulster Farmers’ Union and Livestock and Meat Commission, estimated the indirect cost of bovine TB to farmers at more than £96m a year.
The report found these losses form only part of the overall economic impact.
Combined with the Daera annual direct spend of about £60m, the total cost of bovine TB to Northern Ireland agriculture is estimated at about £156m a year.