Cost of TB testing and compensation

The following graphs were generated using data in References 1,2 and 3 and data shown in the following table. In each graph, data is smoothed using a Hanning window over 3 points. The financial year in the Irish Republic starts on January 1st so matches the start of the calendar year. The corporate and governmental financial year in Great Britain starts on April 6th.

Great Britain	Request	Received data
Irish Republic	Request	Received data

---

COST OF TB TESTING EACH YEAR


The above graph shows how the total cost of testing in Great Britain is creeping up each year.

The cost plotted above covers arranging, assessing and monitoring tests, conducting investigations of incident herds, and diagnostic testing by Local Veterinary Inspectors on behalf of Defra.^1,2,3

Payments to Official Veterinarians (OVs) cover all the technical tasks associated with the skin test of the eligible cattle on the farm, including the recording of all animal IDs and test measurements on the farm, on both days of the skin test and their submission to AHVLA.⁵

Editor note: My interpretation of this is that if the farmer is paying for another person to specifically record details of the animals as they are being tested, the farmer should bear in mind that the farmer (as on 12May2011) is under no obligation to provide this service. Indeed the veterinary is receiving payment from AHVLA to carry out this task on behalf of the farmer.

---

COST OF COMPENSATION EACH YEAR


The above graph shows how the total cost of compensation for slaughtered animals in Great Britain has fluctuated in the last few years. This cost includes 'salvage' money received by the Government for those carcasses which are permitted to go into the food chain.

---

COST OF TESTING EACH ANIMAL


The above graph shows how the average cost of testing each animal in Great Britain has reduced since 2004. This quantity was calculated by summing the monthly number of animals tested over each financial year and then dividing the annual test cost by this sum.


In the Irish Republic, farmers pay the vet directly for the majority of the TB testing cost and this is operated in association with a levy system.⁴

---

COST OF COMPENSATION FOR EACH ANIMAL


The above graph shows how the average compensation for each animal slaughtered in Great Britain has dropped since 2004. This quantity was calculated by summing the monthly number of animals slaughtered over each financial year and then dividing the annual compenation cost by this sum.


A disease levy is in place the Irish Republic. The levy was introduced by an Act of Parliament in 1979 when costs of disease control were very high. Money collected through the levy system contributes to costs under the TB eradication scheme. In recent years, agreement has been reached between the farming organisations and DAF that the levies will roughly equate to 50 percent towards the Government compensation costs. The remaining compensation costs are covered by DAF. The levy is collected by the buyers of animals/ animal products e.g. meat plants, dairies and at export points and the purchasers in turn pay the levy into a central fund held within government.⁴

References

1. Breakdown of bovine TB expenditure in Great Britain: 1998/99 - 2007/08 (£ m)
2. Bovine TB expenditure for GB 2008/09
3. Bovine TB expenditure for GB 2009/10
4. Review of Bovine Tuberculosis Testing Arrangements. November 2006
5. Role played by farmer during TB tests