FMD Shutdown Adds To Disposal Scheme Concerns
UK - Fresh concerns have emerged over the ability of the Older Cattle Disposal Scheme (OCDS) to cope with the numbers of cattle needing to be processed before it closes at the end of next year, according to NFU Scotland.
5 September 2007
2 minute read
The Union has pointed to the recent two-week shutdown of the scheme resulting from the foot and mouth outbreak, which has added to capacity problems.
The OCDS closure, from 3-16 August, came at a time when volumes of cattle to be entered into the scheme were starting to build and just as the Rural Payments Agency was launching its booking-in system.
In light of the pressures on rendering capacity, NFUS has asked Defra to look at two options to relieve some of the pressure facing the scheme; either assisting abattoirs with additional storage capacity to hold slaughtered cattle until renderers are able to take them or, alternatively, extending the scheme into 2009.
Additonally, NFUS is reminding members that if they want to get cattle processed through the scheme before the end of 2007, when the compensation rate drops, they need to be booked in by the end of September. Farmers should book animals in with their abattoir in the normal way, but will now need to give a note of the relevant animals’ ear tag numbers.
NFUS Vice President Nigel Miller said:
“We’ve been concerned for some time at the ability of OCDS to process cattle prior to the scheme’s closure at the end of next year. There are likely to be between 220-240,000 cattle born before August 1996 to go through the scheme before its closure in 2008. The scheme can currently cope with 170,000 a year, so, with 16 months left to run, there is absolutely no room for manoeuvre. The loss of even a fortnight’s worth of rendering, as we have just faced, is going to cause a significant problem.
“We want Defra to look at an enhanced strategy to deal with this now. There are no major problems with slaughtering capacity, but there is for rendering capacity. So we want Defra to look at assisting abattoirs with developing extra storage space to hold cattle until rendering facilities become available. Probably the best option however would be to extend the scheme into 2009 to take account of the FMD outbreak, which has exacerbated the pressure already on the scheme.
“In the meantime, I would urge farmers to ensure they book-in any older cattle they want to enter into the scheme as soon as possible. It is likely that all available space for 2007, at the higher compensation rate, will be taken by the end of this month.”
TheCattleSite News Desk
