The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs has revised the criteria for Alternative Control Herds for cattle in Northern Ireland, in an announcement made on 22 July by Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir.
The revised criteria apply to cattle herds operating under alternative controls. DAERA’s announcement identifies the change as an update to the rules governing eligibility for that herd category in Northern Ireland.<br><br>Alternative Control Herds are a defined part of the department’s cattle arrangements, and the publication means the criteria applying to those herds have been changed by DAERA. The announcement concerns cattle herds in Northern Ireland rather than a wider cross-border or UK-wide change.
The department presented the update as revised eligibility criteria. Farmers and herd keepers considering whether their cattle operation falls within the Alternative Control Herd arrangements will therefore need to use the revised DAERA criteria rather than earlier requirements.
Minister Muir made the announcement on behalf of DAERA, the department responsible for the published criteria. The notice was issued on 22 July 2026 and is the primary departmental record of the policy update.<br><br>The change is specifically about the criteria for Alternative Control Herds. It does not, on the information published in the announcement, set out a general change applying to every cattle herd in Northern Ireland.
For affected herd keepers, the significance of the announcement is that eligibility under the alternative-control arrangements is now assessed against revised departmental criteria. Any decision on a particular herd’s position will depend on how those criteria apply to its circumstances.
DAERA has described the update as a revision of the criteria governing Alternative Control Herds for cattle in Northern Ireland. The department’s published material should be used for the full criteria and for any operational questions arising from the change.