Bovine TB

Farmers Guardian editor Olivia Midgley's take on this week's top farming news stories

Cumbrian dairy farmer and FG columnist, James Robinson, provides an account of the bovine TB situation on his farm and airs his frustration at not being able to identify the root cause

In today's Farming in Five, chief reporter Rachael Brown reports on farmers' frustration of having to publicly defend the safety and viability of their businesses in light of public concerns around methane suppressors, Wales announces an all-wales avian influenza prevention zone, after it was declared across England and Scotland earlier in the week, and NFU Council members vote in favour of staging a further protest in the capital as part of a drive to halt the family farm tax

A new report commissioned by the Farming Community Network (FCN) has laid bare the impact of bTB on farmers' health

The number of heifers leaving the herd before completing their third lactation is a challenge for the industry, but should also be viewed as an opportunity to improve, said Sarah Tomlinson, lead veterinary science expert at AHDB

We were lucky enough to have a relatively quiet and drama-free Christmas period on the farm, with some drier weather helping

As with all farmers, the weather is one of our biggest influences on nearly everything we do

UFU said it has been told by Northern Ireland's Chief Veterinary Officer that the current bTB strategy review was still in ‘draft form' and had not yet undergone scrutiny by policy developers

UFU president William Irvine said there was extremely limited focus on the most critical issue – the need for an effective eradication programme addressing all sources of infection

The Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) held a crisis meeting with Northern Ireland's leading food businesses and organisations to address the threat facing farming from government policies