Compensation plan for farmers who had to cull livestock over Lumpy Skin Disease approved

The Catalan government has approved the compensation plan that will be paid to livestock farmers for each animal slaughtered as a result of the outbreak of Lumpy Skin Disease this autumn.

The executive has published the amounts that have been established after negotiating with the sector and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Compensation will be paid for each animal that had to be killed due to the disease since October 3, the day the first case was detected on a farm in Alt Empordà. Compensation is established based on technical and production criteria that allow the damage suffered by livestock farms to be adequately assessed.

Classification takes into account the productive function of each animal in relation to the amount of milk or meat it generates, in addition to age, reproductive phase, breed and farming system.

Authorities will differentiate between replacement cattle, fattening or pasture calves, and cows according to the number of births, and breeding bulls are differentiated, with specific economic values assigned to each category.

This system aims to pay out quantities adjusted to the animal's value and future production loss, with the aim of paying equitable amounts for the affected farms.

In addition to the compensation for mandatory slaughter, the government plans to soon convene a new aid order aimed at recovering the productive potential of the affected farms. 

The Minister of Agriculture, Òscar Ordeig, previously announced that on December 26, the restrictions arising from the outbreak in Cassà de la Selva will be lifted, while on January 8 the outbreak in Castelló d'Empúries (Alt Empordà) will be declared over.