Bovine TB fall not good enough, says NFU

Bovine TB rates have shown a marginal fall across Britain, the latest Defra figures reveal.

In 2014, the number of new herd incidents in the UK fell by 2%, from 4,808 in 2013 to 4,713.

The number of cattle slaughtered as reactors or direct contacts was 32,851 from January to December 2014, compared with 32,612 over the same period in 2013.

See also: Badger cull row intensifies over union’s TB rate claims

TB herd breakdowns, as a proportion of the national herd, now stands at 4.2% compared with 4.5% for January to December 2013.

The NFU described the small decline in the number of new herds affected by TB last year as “not acceptable”.

The union said the figures reinforced the need to implement the government’s 25-year TB eradication strategy for England to wipe out the disease as quickly as possible.

NFU deputy president Minette Batters said: “No one can say today’s figures are good news because more than 4,700 herds that had been clear of bovine TB were affected by it last year.

“And although the number of cattle slaughtered because of the disease fell slightly in England, it rose sharply in Wales.”

“If we are ever going to control and eradicate bovine TB these options have to include controlling the disease in badgers in areas where it is rife.”
Minette Batters, NFU deputy president

She added: “These figures are not good news for the thousands of farmers who are still dealing with the consequences of bovine TB on their farms every day.

“They are not good news for farmers in those parts of the country where TB is still spreading. And they are certainly not good enough if we are serious in our aim to see TB eradicated from England.”

Ms Batters said bovine TB was having a “massive impact” on family farming businesses.

She said the NFU remained committed to the use of appropriate cattle testing and movement controls and badger vaccination in edge area counties. But she urged the government to roll out badger culling to areas where the disease is rife.

“If we are ever going to control and eradicate bovine TB these options have to include controlling the disease in badgers in areas where it is rife,” she added.

“Only by doing this will we achieve what everyone wants – healthy badgers, healthy cattle and a TB free England.”