The NFU has supported the government’s decision to reassess its Badger Vaccine Deployment Project (BVDP) for England.
Ministers have reviewed the project and have decided that the BVDP will now be undertaken in just one of the four original areas. It says the science-led and carefully managed trapping and vaccination project will continue in Gloucestershire.
NFU President Peter Kendall said: "The NFU has always supported the development of vaccines as one of the measures needed to develop an effective TB eradication plan. However, we have always feared that this has been seen as a silver bullet and we have remained convinced that, on its own, this policy would not deliver the desired results.
"It is only right that the new Government should review the BVDP, particularly in light of the coalition agreement which said that "as part of a package of measures, we will introduce a carefully managed and science-led policy of badger control in areas with high and persistent levels of bovine tuberculosis."
"We have always said that we need a holistic approach if we are to move towards the eradication of bovine TB. Our view is that this approach must include a mixture of cattle and wildlife controls, that vaccination was only one of the tools available and that culling options also needed to be considered.
"It is vital that we urgently develop a comprehensive approach to dealing with bovine TB and today’s news indicates that ministers are keen to look at a package of measures that are fit for purpose."