Ireland-Fallen stock rules.

THE Government warned farmers that if they broke the Fallen Animals Scheme rules, they would have to carry the full €300 cost of disposal of a dead animal.

Now, it’s the Government that has tripped up, ending its funding of the scheme, and sending a farmer’s disposal bill from €36 to €190 overnight — because the Government can’t pay its massive bills for running the country.

It was to subsidise the heavy cost to farmers and carcase collectors that the Fallen Animals Scheme was introduced in 2000 — and to facilitate BSE surveillance, ensure all carcasses were collected for proper disposal, and minimise on-farm burials.

Last October, Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith reduced his department’s contribution from €28m to €14m. He said "an adjustment of burden sharing was appropriate," due to the fall in BSE cases, extra outlets for selling meat and bone meal, and savings from the testing age for BSE going to 48 months — and of course to help achieve the Government’s required €5 billion a year savings. He said the fallen animals funding cut would be implemented through reduced rates of disposal, following discussions with the various industry interests.

Now, the remaining €14m of funding is gone. "Reduced rates of disposal" has turned out to be a bill of €160 per ton from the four rendering factories where carcases are disposed of. That bill goes down to carcase collectors and farmers.

To have the carcase of a two to four year old animal collected now costs a farmer up to €190 — unless the collector can absorb some of the bill.

Collectors and farmers have been shocked by the Government’s decision.

Vet bills and disposal could now easily total €400 for a mortality, on top of the loss of value. The 243,539 on-farm cattle deaths reported per year to the Cattle Movement Monitoring system are likely to cost farmers more than €15 million for disposal alone — about €9m more than it cost last year.

It’s a huge setback for the farming industry, left depending on the mercy of carcase collectors and renderers. The Government has ensured farmers are captive consumers. On-farm burial licences are issued only for fallen animals in listed islands, boglands, and mountains. The farmer faces fines up to €5,000, or up to six months in prison, if animals are not disposed of properly. Under existing legislation, proper disposal means contacting an animal collector within 24 hours; keeping a record of the date and time of notification; securely holding carcasses awaiting collection; filling out Form NBAS 31D and sending it off with the correct animal passport, and the carcass.

If the herd is restricted, or the farmer cannot locate the passport, the farmer must contact the department before the animal is collected, and follow instructions.

The department says farmers can continue to use the existing collection network, or they can save a few euro by transporting their dead animals by prior arrangement to approved plants (in leak-proof, covered containers or vehicles).

For bovines aged over 48 months, the department will still contribute €30 per animal.

They come within the EU’s BSE surveillance rules, and the government presumably has to retain some control over such a serious disease. Farmers will have to pay €54.03 each to collectors for the over-48 months cattle — probably about 30% of the country’s cattle disposals.

For other cattle, the licensed collectors have said they have no choice but to pass on costs to farmers. However, getting their carcases rendered in Northern Ireland is the first obvious step for those whose businesses are threatened by the new €160 per ton rendering charge.

Farmers here are now charged €140 for a fallen animal aged 12 to 24 months; a farmer in the North is charged €78.32.

For 24 to 48 months animals, the figures are respectively €190 and €84.84. IFA Deputy President Derek Deane said this week that the new rendering charges have already been halved in some areas by switching to outlets in the North.

Thousands of cattle from the south are being processed every week in Northern Ireland beef factories, and the Government may also now drive the rendering industry across the border.

Cutting its Fallen Animal Scheme funding may be a false economy, if it turns out it was necessary to maintain a rendering industry in our overpriced, high cost economy.