Anguish as bovine TB claims more top-quality cattle in Wales
Stuart Williams, his daughter Eva and father Philip watch the latest batch leave the farm © Vicky Williams A dairy farmer who has lost 240 cattle to bovine TB in just two years says the situation is taking an immense toll on his family, including his two-year-old daughter Eva.
Stuart Williams, who before the first herd breakdown in 2020 was winning awards exhibiting his Willhome Ayrshires, Brown Swiss and Holsteins at major events, said Eva asked him, “When are they coming back?” as the latest TB casualties were shipped from the farmyard in December.
She also asked: “What about the rest?” “That is a question I just can’t answer,” Mr Williams admitted.
See also: Tougher bovine TB controls to be introduced in Wales
The family had its first ever TB breakdown just two months after Eva was born; on 30 December 2021 they lost their 240th animal and now just 72 milkers are going through the parlour at Home Farm, Leweston, near Haverfordwest.
“For anyone who knows us as a family, you will see the pain in everyone’s eyes due to this awful experience; it’s taking away the past and the future too,” said Mr Williams.
“We have got to the stage now where we can’t take much more. Mentally it has messed us up, and it is ruining all that we have ever built up. No one should have to go through this strain.”
Of the 48 milkers they bought in 2020, only 10 now remain.
“Common sense suggests it’s not sustainable for any business to run like that,” said Mr Williams.
Future doubts
As he stood with Eva and his father, Philip, watching the latest load of cows leaving the yard, he said he couldn’t help questioning what the future holds for his family.
“I may not know the answer to that, but I know for sure something has got to give and policies need to change, because I want to be able to answer Eva’s questions and let her know that she has a future in farming if she wants it.”
But the bovine TB situation in Wales appears to be deteriorating. In the 12 months to September 2021, there were 664 new herd incidents – an 8% increase on the previous year.
Over the same time period, more than 10,550 cattle were slaughtered as part of bovine TB controls; this is a 4% increase on the previous 12 months, when 10,124 cattle were slaughtered.
In June 2021, first minister Mark Drakeford said that under the Labour-led administration, the Welsh TB eradication strategy would not include the culling of badgers.
Philip Williams and his granddaughter Eva © Vicky Williams
The Conservatives in the Senedd have warned that bovine TB will not disappear in Wales with the current eradication strategy.
Shadow rural affairs minister Samuel Kurtz said: “Bovine TB is a horrendous disease and one the Labour government has persistently failed to tackle thanks to a decade of failed strategies, consultations and avoiding the evidence from other countries who have eradicated this disease.”
“It is little wonder then that hundreds of thousands of cattle have been slaughtered, wildlife continues to suffer, and farmers deal with the mental anguish from Welsh government policy failures.”
But in its recently published Animal Health and Welfare Implementation Plan, the Welsh government insists its TB eradication programme is built on “sound evidence” and that it continually seeks to update its approach as research findings emerge.