AgriSearch review: wildlife measures must be paired with cattle controls to tackle bTB in Northern Ireland

AgriSearch published a major evidence review, commissioned by Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), on wildlife intervention options to tackle bovine tuberculosis (bTB). The review assesses what the scientific evidence says each wildlife approach could achieve for cattle, what it could cost, and how DAERA compared the options.

AgriSearch chair Norman McMordie framed the work as an evidence-first exercise: the aim is to identify where evidence is strong, where uncertainty remains, and what those differences mean for decision-making in Northern Ireland. The review produced four headline issues:

• Cost to farmers: AgriSearch concluded DAERA is likely to have underestimated the costs borne by farmers during herd breakdowns, and therefore the economic value of preventing breakdowns. DAERA relied partly on older source data (some dating back to 2010/2011). AgriSearch recommends using the more recent Andersons study prepared for the LMC, UFU and the Dairy Council for Northern Ireland as the benchmark unless DAERA can provide robust alternative evidence.

• Badger numbers: Reliable, up-to-date local population information is needed to plan interventions, estimate how much of the population interventions reach, and calculate delivery costs.

Public consultation and political response

DAERA extended a public consultation by two weeks, with the new closing date set at Friday, October 9. AgriSearch has made its materials available to help farmers respond. Ulster Unionist deputy leader and agriculture spokesperson Diana Armstrong urged farmers to take part in the consultation and highlighted the financial burden of bTB: she cited total costs of more than £150 million a year, with almost £100 million falling directly on farmers and around half imposed on herds that have never had a breakdown.

What this means for farmers and policy

Decisions on wildlife interventions should be driven by transparent comparisons, up-to-date local data on wildlife populations, realistic estimates of farmer costs, and monitoring of cattle outcomes. The consultation window gives farmers an immediate opportunity to influence which interventions are trialled or scaled, provided responses engage with the evidence AgriSearch has published.