Fustrated farmers urge action to tackle devastating disease

West Midlands farmers today voiced frustration at the Government's failure to give concrete assurances about curbing tuberculosis in wildlife.

Livestock producers are desperate to see bovine TB eradicated but fail to see the point in more cattle controls without an equally rigorous and sustained effort to stop the spread of the disease from infected wildlife.

And the region's leading NFU spokesman urged a swift conclusion to the planned three month consultation on a cull of diseased badgers followed by decisive action to finally tackle bovine TB once and for all.

"The simple fact is that farmers accept the need to avoid reinfection of badgers and realise that this inevitably means pre-movement testing of cattle to prevent spread of the disease among livestock as part of a comprehensive control strategy," said NFU West Midlands regional board chairman Simon Latter.

"But there is simply no point in doing that unless you are taking action to control the disease in the wildlife itself and close the entire cycle of infection.

"It is unacceptable to the farming industry to introduce additional expense and control measures for cattle while leaving the door wide open for more infection from wildlife sources."

Farmers in infected areas in the West Midlands, which include Herefordshire, parts of Shropshire and Staffordshire and the western half of Worcestershire, are concerned that the industry will have to pay vets' bills for pre-movement testing.

They are also completely against the Government's new compensation scheme, which pays out at a flat rate depending on the age, gender and pedigree of the animal.

"It seems totally unfair that the industry will be saddled with these costs virtually straight away but have to wait for the outcome of the consultation on the cull - with no guarantee that any cull of diseased badgers will actually take place," said Mr Latter.

The Government yesterday announced it will spend until March 10 consulting on a possible badger cull as part of a package of measures to try and tackle the increasingly widespread disease.

It also wants to test cattle in infected areas for signs of the disease before they are moved off farm but is expecting farmers to arrange and pay the veterinary fees for all tests.

Animal health and welfare minister Ben Bradshaw also unveiled a controversial new system of compensation arrangements aimed at striking a "fairer balance between the taxpayer and the farmer".

The main opposition in the West Midlands to the compensation scheme is that it takes no note of the quality of an individual animal and just pays out according to which of 47 defined categories the animal falls into.

"You simply can't put a set rate on a live animal as if it was an inanimate object like a motor car," added Mr Latter.

"One infected beast might have been bred and reared for a high value market but still only attract the same compensation that would be given to the owner of an infected animal of similar age and gender but lesser quality.

"So it is a system that does not reflect the true value of a farmer's stock and does not reward good husbandry and welfare standards. It is also extremely unfair that farmers do not have the right of appeal against any valuations in this system.

"We ultimately want a countryside in which healthy badgers and healthy cattle can co-exist but that is a long way from becoming reality under the proposed measures.

"The longer the Government fails to act decisively to reduce the reservoir of disease in wildlife, the more harrowing the emotional and financial strain on the livestock industry in the region."