Farming groups react to Brian May’s bovine TB documentary

Farming organisations have expressed serious concerns about Brian May’s BBC documentary on bovine TB and its potential impact on public perception and policy related to bovine TB control.

AHDB, the British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA), the Countryside Alliance, and NFU Cymru have all expressed disappointment and concern over the documentary’s portrayal of bovine TB and the badger cull.

Brian May: The Badgers, the Farmers and Me, which aired at 9pm on BBC2 on Friday 23 August, charted the Queen guitarist’s decade-long journey to understand the root causes of the bovine TB crisis and his campaign to end badger culling.

See also: Brian May – ‘Badgers are irrelevant in cattle TB spread’

Sir Brian made claims that the government’s badger culling policy, which has seen more than 230,000 badgers culled in England since 2013, has had no significant impact on cattle TB rates and he likened this to the Post Office scandal.

He blamed flaws in cattle testing and poor biosecurity on farms as the main causes for the spread of the disease – and he called for more funding for enhanced testing and help for farmers to improve biosecurity.

Gatcombe experiment

The programme made claims that a ground-breaking four-year experiment at Gatcombe Farm in East Devon had eliminated bovine TB in the chronically infected dairy herd without the need to cull badgers.

For the research, Sir Brian worked in partnership with large mammal vet Dick Sibley and farmer Robert Reed to improve hygiene measures among cattle and roll out the use of enhanced testing to identify TB-positive cows missed by the skin test.

Following pressure from farming organisations, the film makers added a key update on Gatcombe Farm’s TB status to the end of the programme, which revealed that despite the measures it had suffered three TB herd breakdowns in the last five years.

This was attributed to “historic infection within the herd”, but the farm has been TB-free since May this year.

NFU Cymru criticised the documentary for drawing conclusions from a single farm’s experience, which they believe is not scientifically credible.

The union pointed to the need for a comprehensive approach that includes wildlife control, as supported by various peer-reviewed studies like the Birch, Godfray, and Downs reviews.

Slurry factor played down

Aled Jones, president of NFU Cymru, also expressed frustration over the documentary’s suggestion that cattle slurry is a significant factor in the spread of cattle TB, which contradicts findings from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (Apha) indicating that the risk from cattle faeces is very low.

In a statement, the Countryside Alliance, said: “As predicted, the BBC’s badger cull documentary contained little more than the opinion of its presenter – Brian May.

“That the corporation was pressured into adding a last minute cursory reference at the end to the very significant fact that TB had returned to Gatcombe Farm on three occasions does nothing to constitute reasonable balance.

“From the outset, it was clear the BBC had made a huge error in permitting a blatant partisan to front a current affairs programme on such a sensitive and emotive issue. By doing so, it has failed in its stated commitment to impartiality.”

BBC response

The BBC defended the documentary, stating that it adhered to strict editorial guidelines on impartiality and included a range of voices in the debate, including those of farmers and academics.

The corporation noted that the documentary is a first-person piece reflecting Sir Brian’s journey and views but included other perspectives.

The AHDB, the Countryside Alliance and other farming organisations have indicated that they will reflect on the documentary further and consider any potential actions.