'No farm is immune and no farmer is spared' - UUP MLA Diane Armstrong calls for urgent, coordinated action on bovine tuberculosis

The call comes after a landmark independent report, jointly commissioned by the Ulster Farmers' Union, the Livestock and Meat Commission, and the Dairy Council for Northern Ireland, revealing that indirect bTB costs borne by farmers now stand at over £96 million every year.

This is the equivalent to almost one-third of total agricultural support in Northern Ireland.

And when combined with DAERA's direct expenditure on testing, compensation and programme delivery, the total annual economic cost reaches approximately £156 million.

But perhaps most strikingly, more than half of those indirect costs fall on farms that have not even suffered a TB breakdown, meaning the burden is felt right across the entire sector.

Diana Armstrong MLA said: "These figures are staggering, but they will come as no surprise whatsoever to farming families across Fermanagh and South Tyrone.

"I hear far too often the real and devastating toll that TB is taking on our rural communities.

"This is one of the areas with some of the highest TB levels anywhere in Northern Ireland and the burden felt on the shoulders of our farmers is something I encounter time and again – families who have watched livestock they have raised and cared for be led away and slaughtered, farmers living under movement restrictions for months on end, unable to trade, unable to plan, living with the constant dread of the next test result.”

She added that while the “financial damage is immense”, the “emotional toll that never makes the spreadsheet”.

"The sleepless nights, the anxiety, the sense of helplessness that comes when a disease you cannot fully control takes hold of your herd and your livelihood,” she added.

"From small family farms to large commercial operations, I hear directly about the reduced cash flow and increased feeding costs that TB brings in its wake.

"No farm is immune and no farmer is spared.

"These are proud farming families who ask for nothing more than a fair chance to get on with the job.

"TB robs them of that chance, year after year.”

The UUP MLA added: "A total economic burden of over £150 million annually is not just staggering, it is a systemic failure.

"The department and successive Ministers have been talking for years about TB.

"The time for warm words and working groups has long passed.

"I want to pay tribute to my colleague Robbie Butler MLA, who as Chair of the Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee continues to press relentlessly for timely, meaningful action on TB.

"While DAERA's own costs continue to escalate, with compensation spend alone now projected to exceed £56 million in the current financial year, Robbie has ensured that this crisis has not been allowed to drift off the political agenda.

"The Committee's scrutiny is vital, and I fully support his determination to hold the Minister and the Department to account.

"Farming families in Fermanagh, South Tyrone and across Northern Ireland cannot afford another decade of delay."