IRISH DAIRY farmers are to have an independent laboratory to provide rapid, cheap, reliable diagnostic tests of their milk with the creation of Independent Milk Laboratories.
The company is a joint venture between National Milk Records of the UK, a farmer-owned plc, and Progressive Genetics, an Irish farmer-owned cattle breeding co-operative.
The board of management will be chaired by Prof Patrick Wall of University College Dublin, who explained other technological advances would be important for noting if herds suffered from sub-clinical diseases that are endemic in Ireland.
Currently, he said, no laboratory in Ireland was doing disease screening, and for many years Ireland had talked about having such a laboratory to undertake disease screening, payment testing and milk recording so farmers would be aware of their herd’s performance and disease status.
This, he said, was currently carried out by the milk processing companies, and farmers were being paid or penalised on the basis of analysis given by the processors from laboratories which were not accredited.
The laboratory, he said, would be located in Cavan and would be operational by October 1st and provide rapid, cheap, reliable diagnostic tests using bulk tank and milk recording samples. Controlling mastitis would be a priority.
A rapid diagnostic service for a raft of other diseases would also be available, Prof Wall said.