Sound science in bovine TB policy needed, says NFU
© Tim Scrivener The NFU has stressed the need for the government’s ongoing bovine TB to be based around sound scientific evidence, including the need to tackle the reservoir of disease in wildlife.
The union’s renewed call comes after a new scientific paper demonstrated the effectiveness of including badger culling as part of a holistic strategy to help eradicate bovine TB from cattle herds in England.
The Birch Review, an analysis by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (Apha), shows further evidence that TB infection in herds can be reduced by 56% in areas where there has been four years of culling. The paper is in the process of being peer reviewed.
See also: Bovine TB cattle slaughterings in England lowest in 15 years
The NFU’s plea followed widely reported comments, from shadow Defra farming minister Daniel Zeichner, that a Labour government would not include badger culling in its TB eradication strategy.
NFU deputy president Tom Bradshaw met Defra minister Lord Benyon on Wednesday 25 October at an NFU member’s farm in Kent, which is participating in field trials for a deployable cattle vaccine and new skin test for bovine TB.
Emotional and financial toll
Speaking afterwards, Mr Bradshaw said bovine TB continues to have a “huge and devastating impact” on thousands of farming families.
“The emotional, mental, and financial strain caused by this terrible disease is enormous,” he said.
Mr Bradshaw stressed that bovine TB should “not be a political issue”.
He said whichever government is in power must follow the current science-led and successful strategy that shows wildlife control is working to significantly reduce bovine TB in cattle, if England is to achieve its goal to be TB-free by 2038.
“Cattle vaccination trials are under way, and a workable vaccine for cattle would be a significant tool to have as part of a range of measures to control bovine TB, if proved successful in the field,” he added.
“But we’re not there yet and, while we wait, we mustn’t become complacent with this disease. We must keep all of the tools that have been proven to work available.”
TB figures down
Official TB figures in September showed that the number of cattle slaughtered due to bovine TB in England fell 21% in the year to June 2023, compared with the same period in 2022.
The total of 19,216 marked the first time there have been fewer than 20,000 TB-cattle slaughterings in a single 12-month period since 2008.