Bovine TB

For too long, and for far too many farmers, bovine TB (bTB) has ravaged the UK cattle industry and is the disease, far more than Covid-19, which strikes at the heart of rural communities across the UK.

Four farmers tragically took their own lives following the Government’s 11th hour decision to pull the plug on the badger cull in Derbyshire, Farmers Guardian has learned.

Vets have complained to the BBC following a ‘hugely biased’ Radio 4 programme on the gradual phasing out of the badger cull which allowed a well-known opponent of culling to go unchallenged.

Farmers have urged Government to halt plans to continue the statutory requirement of bovine TB testing for cattle, in light of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.

There are currently no plans to cancel any statutory requirement for bovine TB testing in Britain in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. 

As dairy farmers turn to other countries to source replacement stock, Richard Halleron looks at the potential impacts of disease and Brexit on some of these markets.

March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, or so the saying goes. Let’s hope the stormy weather early in the month leads us into a more positive and helpful scenario soon.

Defra has published its next steps for its 25 year strategy to achieve bovine TB free status for England. Hannah Binns finds out more.

The UK Government’s bovine TB strategy is markedly different to the strategy adopted by the Welsh Government.

The Government has said it plans to phase out ‘intensive’ badger culling in high-risk areas of England during the next phase of its 25-year strategy to stamp out bovine TB.