“Compensating for losses” derived from Epizoological Hemorrhagic Disease (EHE) in the herd from August 1, 2023 – date on which the first cases of a pathology previously unknown in Castilla y León were detected – until December 31. This is the objective of the 9.23 million euros that the Governing Council of the Junta approved this Thursday in the form of subsidies for the breeders concerned.
In total, they will reach 5,158 cattle farms who have reported cases of this notifiable disease. Cattle are the species in which the so-called “cow covid” has targeted and caused damage. An amount, as explained by the spokesperson for the regional government, Carlos Fernández Carriedo, which is added to the 5.57 million euros which have already been granted in another previous batch to 3,299 farms where the virus arrived through the bite of the Culicoides mosquito and reported a case between August 28 and October 16 last year.
With this aid, which opens the deadline, indicated the spokesperson, Carlos Fernández Carriedo, the objective is to “support” the activity of the sector in Castilla y León, a community where the largest cattle herd in Spain is located, with 1.4 million head.
On this occasion, the aid is intended for breeders who, between the marked dates, had been affected by EHE, but had not received aid or had not yet “compensated” a concept.
The aim of the grants is to help “reduce” the costs of cleaning, disinfection and disinfestation that breeders had to face on their farms due to the disease. And they vary according to the size of the farms, so that they amount to 500 euros for those with less than 50 head of livestock; They amount to 750 euros for those who own between 50 and 100 cattle, and 1,000 euros if they own more than a thousand animals. Additionally, they are also considering 500 euros per head as compensation for the death of livestock.
Be a notifiable diseasethe Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development already has information on the farms which will benefit from this aid, so “it is not necessary” for breeders to present any justification for receiving it and the subsidy will be considered effective if the beneficiary does not expressly reject it within ten days of its notification.
With this novelty, the Junta de Castilla y León allocated 15 million euros to help the Community cattle sector to deal with the problems linked to this disease.
Furthermore, Carriedo stressed that the regional government’s “idea” is to extend “support” to affected farms in 2024. With the new influx of aid “everything” is covered 2023the one with the greatest number of animals infected with epizootic hemorrhagic disease. But, recognized the advisor, in 2024 cases were also detected, although in lower numbers due to the immunization acquired by the herd after the first incursion of the mosquito the previous summer and measures such as the vaccine already available .
