30 Aug 2024
Department vows to work with vets and farmers in wake of BBC programme, as it today (30 August) also reveals consultation on ending the cull within five years.
Allister Webb
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Image © andyballard / Pixabay.
Defra today (30 August) revealed plans to end the controversial culling of badgers to control bTB by 2029.
The news came as a Defra minister vowed to work with “farmers, vets, conservationists and scientists” to tackle bTB in England after a television documentary sparked a new badger cull row.
The BBC programme, Brian May: the Badgers, the Farmers and Me, was also described by the BCVA as “misleading”, while claiming there was “nowhere near enough evidence” to endorse its central argument.
But a prominent anti-cull organisation said the 23 August broadcast showed the government department had “failed” both farmers and wildlife.
Defra pledged to end the cull programme following Labour’s election victory in July, but doubts were raised by its admission that current cull licences would still proceed.
Today, however, it announced work on a “comprehensive new TB eradication strategy” to end the badger cull by the end of the current parliament in 2029.
It said it would be consulting on its plans for a new strategy that would use “a data-led scientific approach” to drive down TB rates to save cattle and protect farmer livelihoods.
The announcement came too late for Vet Times’ latest print edition. But in response to last week’s programme, Defra said it would “shortly” set out details of how it plans to tackle what the food security and rural affairs minister Daniel Zeichner described as his “number one priority”.
He said: “Bovine tuberculosis has been a tragedy for farmers, vets and conservationists, with thousands of cattle lost to the disease and badgers culled.
“I am clear that we will beat bTB and end the cull once and for all, as we committed to doing in our manifesto.
“I will be working at pace and in partnership with farmers, vets, conservationists and scientists to bring step change to build an ambitious eradication package that protects both livelihoods and wildlife, and stamps out this awful disease.”
The documentary, featuring Queen guitarist and animal rights activist Brian May, presented the findings of research suggesting that the presence of the Mycobacterium bovis bacterium in cattle faeces could enable the disease to spread through herds via contamination of feed and water.
But in a statement on its website, the BCVA said the test used had not been validated and “care should be taken” when interpreting its results.
It continued: “As scientists, farm vets will always be interested in seeing some valid, peer-reviewed data relating to slurry management.
“However, there is nowhere near enough evidence to demonstrate fully how TB bacteria behave in slurry, and any claims that managing slurry alone is a complete answer is not based on credible evidence.”
The association also demanded action to address what it regarded as “factual inaccuracies” within the programme and argued it had overlooked latest evidence suggesting both that badgers do spread the disease to cattle and there had been a substantial reduction in disease levels during periods of culling.
It added: “We wish there had been an opportunity to share the science and evidence that the badger culls, along with a range combined strategies, have contributed to the 20-year low that we are currently experiencing.”
Meanwhile, the NFU said it was submitting a formal complaint to the BBC about the documentary, which it described as “irresponsible” and “fundamentally flawed”.
But the corporation has defended the programme, arguing that it featured “numerous voices in the debate on badger culling, including farmers and academics”.
A spokesperson added: “The BBC adheres to strict editorial guidelines on impartiality on this matter.”
The broadcast has also been supported by prominent anti-cull figures and groups as pressure for an immediate halt to culling continues to build.
Independent scientist Tom Langton, whose co-authored paper arguing there was no effect on disease levels from culling reignited the debate on its merits two years ago, praised the work featured in the programme as “one of the great contributions to bovine TB control”.
He said: “This should lead to a solution that new technology can enable, giving fresh eyes on radically changing the way that bovine TB is managed.”
Meanwhile, the Badger Trust, which will lead a day of protest against the cull in Westminster today (3 September), said the documentary showed farmers had been “badly let down by misinformation and distractions”, and dismissed any continuing policy focus on culling badgers as “nonsense”.
Chief executive Peter Hambly said: “It seems that Defra and the APHA are not fit for purpose. They have failed farmers and they have failed our natural world – especially badgers.
“They need a complete overhaul or they will keep making the same devastating mistakes again and again, with no respite for farmers, cows or badgers.”
Representatives of the Progressive Veterinary Association, which also opposes culling, are among the expected line-up of speakers for the protest.
