15 Apr 2026
Several prominent veterinary groups are behind the company leading the new contract, which will initially focus on key areas where the current disease picture is deteriorating.
Allister Webb
Job Title
More badgers in England are set to be vaccinated against bTB following the allocation of a Defra contract.
A pilot scheme, which has been operating in East Sussex for several years, will initially be expanded to three other areas under a new Badger Vaccination Field Force (BVFF).
The programme will be led by Farmcare Solutions, a joint venture involving several prominent veterinary care providers.
Project manager Lindsay Heasman said she was “really excited” to share lessons from the current Vaccinating East Sussex Badgers (VESBA) programme, which is preparing for its sixth vaccination season.
She added: “We all recognise that vaccinating badgers is only part of the solution and we will continue to work closely with cattle keepers on additional measures to reduce both the risk and impact of a bTB breakdown.”
The new scheme will initially focus on three areas – south Oxfordshire, north Shropshire and north Worcestershire – where work to identify specific cluster areas is due to take place in the coming weeks.
Farmcare Solutions, which involves groups including IVC Evidensia, VetPartners and Obligace, a consortium of independent veterinary practices that are members of XL Vets, is planning to hold meetings in the cluster areas over the coming weeks to explain more about the project and how farmers and landowners can get involved.
Questions have been raised about the effectiveness of badger vaccination as a method of bTB control, most notably when a government-commissioned evidence review warned last autumn that substantial work would be needed to ensure its viability “at scale”.
But deputy CVO Ele Brown argued the scheme would focus on areas where current disease levels are “high and worsening”.
She said: “Expanding the ability to use badger vaccination in England is a key part of our toolbox to control bovine TB.
“The new field force adds another targeted control measure, supporting on-farm biosecurity and our core cattle measures, while protecting badgers from infection.”