Kerry Farmers Demand TB Scheme Overhaul After Herds Decimated

Rural Crisis Deepens as TB Outbreaks Ravage Kerry Farms

Standing amid empty stalls that once held 85 cattle, fourth-generation farmer Seán O'Sullivan traces his calloused hand along weathered wood. "Forty-one gone since February," he says, voice cracking. "Not just livestock – each had a name, a lineage. This stable's echoes are breaking me."

Councillor Dan McCarthy didn't mince words at Kerry County Council's emergency session: "Our TB eradication scheme isn't just failing – it's functionally dead. When good men like Seán lose half their livelihood overnight, bureaucracy becomes betrayal."

The Human Cost of Failed Policies

South Kerry's rolling hills conceal a mounting crisis:

• 47% herd infection rates in some townlands
• 6-month testing cycles missing rapid transmission
• Compensation covering just 60% of breeding stock value

"My grandfather survived the Civil War," O'Sullivan reflects, wiping manure-stained boots on the doorstep of his 200-year-old farmhouse. "Never saw destruction like this TB wave. We're not just losing cattle – we're losing custodians of the land."

Systemic Flaws Exposed

Councillor Johnny Healy-Rae slammed the testing protocol's rigidity: "Farmers forced to cull entire bloodlines over single reactors while wildlife reservoirs go unchecked. It's like mopping floors with taps wide open."

The Department of Agriculture's 2024 Review noted:

- Badger culling reduced 38% since 2022
- PCR test rollouts delayed until 2026
- Compensation disputes up 214% since 2023

Mental Health Toll Emerges

Kerry Mental Health Alliance reports a 7-fold increase in farmer crisis calls this year. "When your life's work disappears in blue stickers on cattle," notes psychologist Dr. Aisling Ní Chonchúir, "it erodes more than income – it dismantles identity."

Path Forward

The council unanimously demanded:

1. Emergency regional lockdowns with 30-day testing
2. Genome sequencing to map transmission
3. Full-value compensation for pedigree herds
4. Wildlife vector control within 3 months

"This isn't just Kerry's fight," McCarthy insists as milking machines hum in distant farms. "If bovine TB isn't stemmed here, every pasture from Donegal to Wexford faces the same darkness."

O'Sullivan's remaining cows low in twilight. Somewhere, a gate creaks – empty.