NFU statement on Gloucestershire Police webcast
The NFU has issued a statement following last night’s webcast in which Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner Martin Surl questioned the Chief Constable and other senior officers about the policing of last year’s badger cull. NFU Deputy President Minette Batters said: “As a membership organisation, the NFU carefully considered all the legal options available to […]
NFU President: TB is destroying farm business and it must be stopped
More has to be done to stop TB from destroying farming businesses. With one Dorset farmer set to lose nearly a quarter of his dairy herd to the disease, NFU President Meurig Raymond said he would be taking this message to the heart of government. “Today is just one example of what is happening on […]
Farmer’s despair as nearly a quarter of closed dairy herd lost to bovine TB
Dorset dairy farmer Paul Gould is facing the prospect of losing nearly a quarter of his closed dairy herd after the animals reacted positively at his latest routine bovine TB test. Mr Gould said: “I’ve had 36 reactors, including 31 of my in-calf heifer replacements which were due to calve in this year. Let’s be […]
BVA statement on bovine TB announcement
Defra Secretary of State Owen Paterson has published the Independent Expert Panel (IEP) report on the humaneness, safety and efficacy of the pilot badger culls in England, and the Government’s response. He has also published the full Bovine TB Strategy for England. Commenting, BVA President Robin Hargreaves, said: “Clearly the headlines from the IEP report […]
Badger Cull roll-out postponed – but will return to Gloucester and Somerset
A potential badger cull across 10 further counties in England has been postponed by the government, but culling will continue in Somerset and Gloucestershire, it has been announced today. Secretary of State Owen Paterson told Parliament that the government was listening to advice from the Independent Expert Panel Report and wished to ‘perfect’ the culling […]
Plans to eradicate bovine TB in England unveiled
A comprehensive Strategy to achieve TB free status in England by 2038 has been announced by Environment Secretary Owen Paterson today. This includes continuing to strengthen cattle movement controls, a grant-funded scheme for badger vaccination projects in the ‘edge area’ at the frontier of the disease, and improvements to the four-year badger cull pilots in […]
Blueprint for Beating bTB
A detailed analysis of how farmers in Wales are defeating bovine TB (bTB), without culling badgers, will be revealed tonight at a Royal Society debate into ways to tackle the disease. The official figures show that the number of cattle slaughtered in Wales has almost halved since 2009, using just better controls and testing methods. […]
Scientists edging nearer to a rapid test for bovine tuberculosis
Scientists are developing a portable testing device which would be capable of detecting bovine tuberculosis in cattle in just a matter of minutes. The major study, involving experts at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), would mean that appropriate measures could be taken more quickly to limit the spread of the infectious disease – which is one […]
90 cattle killed each day due to bovine TB
32,620 cattle were slaughtered in Great Britain due to bovine TB in 2013, new figures released today reveal. This equates to almost 90 cattle being killed each day as a result of the disease. The figures published today also show that the incidence rate – i.e. the proportion of previously TB-free cattle herds found to […]
