Ireland-Dairy farm records.

IRELAND-DAIRY RECORDS.

Milk services group, National Milk Records (PLUS: NMR) announced that it had entered into an agreement which will mark its first entry into the Irish cattle market.

National Milk Records has entered into an agreement with Progressive Genetics Co-operative Society Limited to provide its disease testing services and interpretation. 30,000 cows are expected to be tested by October, 2009, the company said.

The contract was signed after Progressive Genetics conducted a trial with 4,000 cattle, which showed that 78% of the cows tested showed evidence of infection with Bovine Viral Diarrhoea and 4% showed evidence of infection with Johne’s disease.

"The pilot study illustrated farmer support for cost effective disease screening to eliminate or control infectious diseases within their herd and resulted in the commercial tie-up with NML [National Milk Records]." The company’s disease tests check for IBR, Leptospirosis, Johne’s disease and Bovine Viral Diarrhoea.

"This agreement with Ireland’s leading provider of dairy and cattle services is in line with our growth strategy of expanding our reach within the British Isles. We have a very dominant position in the UK, particularly in England and Wales, where farmers recognise the overall cost efficiency and effectiveness of managing quality in an increasingly competitive market, especially as many major retailers demand quality testing from dairy farmers. This position has been recognised by our new partners and we look forward to working together to improve disease testing in Ireland," commented NMR’s Managing Director, Andy Warne.