Defra backs new bTB eradication strategy despite target date fears

Defra has insisted it is winning the fight against bTB in England, despite recent warnings its eradication target date could be missed.

New figures released by the department today, 5 November, have revealed falls in both the number of cattle slaughtered for disease control purposes and the proportion of herds under TB restrictions.

Officials also said they are meeting Labour’s pre-election commitments, with 2026 set to be the first year in a decade with no badgers culled to fight the disease.

New strategy

The claims were made as Defra announced the formal adoption of a new strategy, published in June, which aims to free England of bTB by 2038.

Fears were raised that the target could be missed, perhaps even by decades, during discussions at the BCVA Congress in Telford last month.

But in her foreword to the Government’s response to the new strategy, biosecurity minister Baroness Hayman argued the department was “continuing the momentum” created by the parties involved in its development.

She said: “We owe it to them, and to the farming families and rural communities affected by bovine TB, to now turn that collective effort into tangible and timely change.”

Key aspects

The department said work is already underway to deliver several key aspects of the strategy, including vaccination of both cattle and badgers, improved testing and wildlife surveillance.

A new board, incorporating both government and industry, is also set to replace the current Bovine TB Partnership and oversee delivery of the strategy, with a delivery plan to follow next year.

The scale of the challenge is underlined by figures showing more than 20,000 cattle were slaughtered for TB control reasons during the year to June, though that figure was down 4% on the previous year.

Fall in restrictions

The proportion of herds under TB restrictions also fell from 4.2% to 3.4% over the same period.

The department admitted there were no “quick or simple solutions” to beating bTB but insisted it intended to create “a regular drumbeat of pace, progress and accountability” in the fight against the disease.

Baroness Hayman added: “I have enormous admiration for the farming families who persevere despite these challenges. But no one should have to accept bovine TB as an unavoidable fact of life and livelihood.”