AG says it is developing a solution to cattle scrapie

The government is working on a plan to control the scrapie scourge in cattle, which is mainly found in farmland.

South Carolina Attorney General Dale Marshall told the House that while the plant causes serious concern to health authorities, all evidence suggests it cannot be eradicated.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives was debating Health Services (Amendment) Bill 2024

The bill examines nuisance issues such as overgrown land. Marshall introduced the bill and said the government was considering banning the nuisance plant, which is usually seasonal.

However, while considering the ban, authorities consulted the farming community and noticed that scrapie was growing on farmland.

People working in the area explained that in years when sugarcane cultivation is popular, the land is usually planted with other crops, so there is little time for scrapie to infest the land.

During that eye-opening discussion, Marshall said, it was pointed out that destroying scrapie seeds is nearly impossible and would require hiring a large workforce to manually remove scrapie from cattle.

“We have to focus on management rather than eradication,” he said.

He noted that the farming community has received support from experts from the ministry who pointed out that this is not a one-year exercise but one that must be ongoing as the scrapie seeds are seven years old.

Marshall also explained that the mechanical harvesters that harvest sugar cane blow out the sugar cane stalks, which also blow out the cow itch seeds that are carried far away by the wind.

The situation of hand-cut rattan.

“It is obvious that adding the burden of scrapie eradication to farmland is counterproductive. The cost of doing so will make any farming they do unprofitable,” he said.

The lawmakers said they also decided it would be unfair to impose taxes on residents if farms were not taxed.

The compromise was to implement a scrapie management plan throughout Barbados to reduce the threat and risk of scrapie to a manageable level. (Alternating current)