17 September 2010

3 minute read

Europe

The UFU says DEFRA's decision to progress a badger cull in England in an effort to control TB reinforces the need for similar action in Northern Ireland.

DEFRA's Agricultural Minister, Jim Paice, has stated that "urgent action is needed to halt the spread of TB and that no single measure will be enough to tackle the disease on its own". Mr Paice is also quoted as saying: "Badgers are a significant reservoir for the disease and without taking action to control the disease in them, it will continue to spread."

Commenting on this statement, UFU president, John Thompson, said: "It is refreshing to see DEFRA's Agricultural Minister tackling the badger issue head on and recognising that urgent action must be taken. In Wales, an announcement as to where the bovine TB eradication programme goes next is expected next week when the Welsh Assembly resumes from its summer recess and of course Scotland is free of TB.

"In December 2008, our Minister Michelle Gildernew, put on record that TB would be tackled using a three stranded approach including addressing the wildlife issue and yet no action has been taken to date. The UFU is becoming increasingly frustrated that, despite the persistent high level of Bovine TB here, others are moving ahead of us in tackling this disease. We are the only region in the UK who appear to be completely ignoring action to deal with the reservoir of TB in badgers.

"The UFU has consistently put forward this view and Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew should now take decisive action on the matter in Northern Ireland. Indeed, we again took the opportunity to strongly restate our position at a DARD meeting with industry representatives on the issue of TB control in Northern Ireland which was held on the same day as the DEFRA announcement was made. It is pointless to continue with the current situation where cattle go down with TB, the animals are slaughtered, the farm re-stocks and eventually goes down again with TB because the disease remained on the farm in wildlife. The incidence of the disease is higher now than it was in 1997. This demonstrates that the current policy is inadequate and must be revisited.

"Despite farmers in Northern Ireland fully complying with one of the most rigorous TB eradication programmes in Europe, there has been no progress in reducing the level of this disease. Farmers want to eradicate it; taxpayers shouldn't have to continue to pay the very significant sum of money currently used for the programme to control it; and other Governments are doing something about it. Surely the time is long past when we, like other countries which have already taken very significant steps towards eradicating TB, are prepared to remove all sources of TB including removing diseased wildlife," concluded Mr Thompson.

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