Two Mile House Farmer Highlights Impact Of TB After Outbreak Takes His Entire Herd

Thursday, 10 October 2024 12:04

By Hannah Kelly

Cormac Browne. Image courtesy of The Irish Independent

Cormac Browne lost decades of genetic gain after his milking herd were culled due to a TB outbreak

A farmer from Two Mile House has detailed his experience of losing his entire herd to a TB outbreak last spring.

Cormac Browne had his cows tested in January, in a process where the vet gives them two injections and returns three days later to see if there is a reaction.

If there is, it is an indication that the cow has TB, and are called 'reactors'.

34 cows from his milking herd reacted to the injections.

As a result, Cormac was forced to cull his entire herd of 70 cows, losing decades of genetic gain.

Speaking on this morning's Kildare Today programme, Cormac explained that he still has his yearling's, as they were in a separate farm, as well as this year's calves.

In his almost 30 years on the farm, Cormac said he never had a reactor until now.

The Department of Agriculture did visit the farm and trapped seven badgers, which are known to carry TB.

One of the men from the department said by looking at the badgers, four of them were infected with TB.

Cormac was told it was likely they were the source of the TB outbreak amongst his herd.

His father started milking on the farm in 1980, and both men had experience in breeding a specific type of cow, building up years of data, methods and improvements on their farm in Two Mile House.

"Now that's all gone, that's generations of cows gone. To get that back...it's not going to be easy", said Cormac.

Despite receiving compensation for his cows, Cormac and his farm still received a significant financial loss.

Now, Cormac says he has had time to think over the past year of having no cows, and says he is more aware of TB and the lasting impacts it has on farms.

"The way I'm thinking is, it could happen again...and you'd just be a little bit less confident.

"You often hear about TB - it happens to everyone, but it never happened to me, so I never really thought about much".

You can listen back to the full interview here: