Farmers to foot disease bill
The NFU has accused the government of seeking to pile on the agony for the farming industry by looking to burden those in the livestock sector with additional costs for dealing with animal disease.
In a consultation published today, Defra sets out plans for farmers to contribute to its budgeted costs for preparing against exotic disease outbreaks. It also suggests it is still looking at ways the industry could pay towards the unbudgeted costs of diseases such as foot-and-mouth, which has already cost the livestock sector £100 million.
The news prompted a strong reaction from NFU President Peter Kendall today (see below), who noted that the 2007 FMD outbreak was traced to a government-licensed facility.
Defra envisages a 50/50 split with the industry, translating to a £22 million bill to be paid through a registration system. The figures per animal are set out in the consultation here.
The consultation also proposes that a new independent body for animal health should be established. That was given a cautious thumbs up by the NFU, with the proviso it was a "genuine partnership between livestock farmers and the government" with "real powers and able to deal with the EC on animal health issues".
NFU comment
NFU President Peter Kendall said: "I am furious Defra is still trying to get farmers to contribute to their costs. It wants us to pay for exotic disease but we don’t think they do enough to keep these diseases out of the country. I have little confidence in Defra’s management of the current Animal Health Budget and the recent NAO report backs our view. It was very critical of Defra and said that its current procedures could not deliver a ’fair and equitable cost sharing scheme’.
"We have to remember the costs we are being asked to cover relate to diseases that are not in this country and I do not think Defra treats the incursion of these diseases very seriously at all - nowhere near as seriously as the governments in places like the US, Australia and New Zealand.
"On top of this we have the 2007 FMD outbreak, which clearly came from a government licensed premises. I find it incredible that ministers can suggest that, in future, livestock farmers should pay half of the government costs for an incident like this.
"The failure at these premises cost the livestock sector over £100m which the industry itself had to cover and they now have the gall to suggest that we should pay 50 per cent of their costs (est. £40m) as well.
"Farmers will be dismayed by these proposals and they have little confidence in Defra on animal health issues. We have bovine TB reaching epidemic proportions in some parts of the country, wiping out more than 30,000 cattle last year alone, and costing the industry millions.
"Meanwhile, Defra pins all its hopes on a vaccine which, while being a tool in the box for TB eradication, will never do the job on its own and all the while our farming families wait in despair."
