Minister confirms the launch of the Biosecurity Targeted Advisory Service for Animal Health (TASAH)
- Published on: 4 April 2025
- Last updated on: 7 April 2025
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, today announced the launch of the Biosecurity Targeted Advisory Service for Animal Health (TASAH) to support farmers to assess and implement biosecurity measures in their farms.
Practicing good biosecurity on farm is key to protecting and improving animal health, welfare and improving productivity, as well as protecting public health, through reduced antimicrobial and antiparasitic medicine usage on farms.
This Rural Development Programme funded Biosecurity TASAH will provide a targeted Advisory Service for animal health to support farmers in their response to animal health challenges identified on their farms. This free Biosecurity TASAH programme will be administered by Animal Health Ireland.
The Minister stated:
“I am delighted to announce that additional funding of €8.2 million to support the Biosecurity TASAH 2025. This will allow the completion of 30,000 biosecurity assessments on Irish farms and will facilitate parasitic control programmes on cattle and sheep farms as well as equine holdings."
The Biosecurity TASAH provides for a farm visit and veterinary consultation, free of charge for the farmer, to delivery advise on biosecurity measures and recommendations to control Bovine Viral Diarrhoea, Johne’s Disease, Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis, evaluate Biosecurity in dairy farms using Bioscore Dairy, Cellcheck and Dry Cow consults for dairy herds, TB biosecurity, as well as biosecurity in pigs/poultry sector including Salmonella control in pig holdings and Parasite Control Strategy for sheep, dairy, beef and suckler farms and equine holdings.
Since 2018, Animal Health Ireland (AHI) has implemented a Generic TASAH providing training to private veterinary partitioners (PVPs) to enable them deliver on-farm animal health and welfare advisory services to contribute with the sustainability of agricultural business and the control of antimicrobial and anthelmintic resistance, welfare and new and emerging pathogens.
The Minister stated:
“The contribution of this programme and the engagement by both Private Veterinary Practitioners and farmers is a key driver in improving the productivity and ultimately, profitability, of Irish farms through focusing on animal health at farm level. This Biosecurity TASAH which builds on the success of similar programmes in recent years will continue to reduce our use of anti-microbials across all species on Irish farms and will allow farmers with their PVPs to target those animal health conditions that present the biggest challenge to their farms."
Farmers can register online from today at Animal Health Ireland. The programme will end on 31 October 2025.