Labour questions science behind badger cull extension
Farmers Weekly The Labour Party has written to Defra to demand answers over its decision to widen the badger cull in England this year. In an open letter, Shadow Defra Minister David Drew says he is...
View ArticleBadgers to be tested for bovine TB in NI hotspots
Farmers Weekly Vets in Northern Ireland are to start testing badgers in two bovine TB hotspots as a possible prelude to a cull of infected wildlife. The announcement is contained as part of a package...
View ArticleTB restrictions expected to dent English Winter Fair entries
Farmers Weekly Organisers of the English Winter Fair say bovine TB restrictions could cut the number of entries at this year’s event. New rules brought in last year mean animals from the low-risk area...
View ArticleTougher bovine TB controls introduced in Wales
Farmers Weekly Farmers in some regions of Wales will now have to run their herds in line with the most demanding bovine TB rules in the UK. It is three months since the Welsh government said it would...
View ArticleDefra bovine TB advisory service goes live
Farmers Weekly A government-funded helpline offering advice and guidance on protecting cattle from bovine TB is now available to farmers in high-risk and edge areas of England. The service, which...
View ArticleFarmer fined for failing to test cattle for TB
Farmers Weekly A North Yorkshire livestock farmer has been fined £660 for failing to have his cattle tested for bovine TB. Paul Parvin, from Sessay, near Thirsk, was found guilty at Northallerton...
View ArticleWider gamma testing needed to tackle bovine TB
Farmers Weekly The government’s roll-out of gamma interferon blood testing for certain bovine TB breakdown herds in the High Risk Areas (HRAs) of England is “too little, too late”, according to an...
View ArticleTenant farmer spells out £100,000 cost of TB outbreak
Farmers Weekly A tenant farmer from East Sussex has spelled out the significant financial costs associated with a TB outbreak as a way of raising awareness of the pressure suffered by farmers when a...
View ArticleNorthern Ireland farmer fined for TB test breaches
Farmers Weekly A Northern Irish farmer has been fined £1,500 for twice failing to present all his cattle for bovine TB testing, and one charge of failure to notify the deaths of nine cattle. Robert...
View ArticleSix-hour TB test shows promising early results
Farmers Weekly A bovine tuberculosis test claiming to give rapid and highly accurate results in just six hours is set to hit the UK cattle industry. Research kits for the test, which detects bacteria...
View ArticleHow a beef enterprise has adapted to overcome TB
Farmers Weekly Recurring bovine TB breakdowns challenged the profitability of the Sockett family’s suckler beef business, so they switched to rearing dairy bull calves in a housed system to reduce...
View ArticleTB compensation cuts and badger cull proposed for NI
Farmers Weekly Cuts to compensation payments and a limited badger cull are being proposed to tackle the costly issue of bovine TB in Northern Ireland. The plans are included in an eight-week public...
View ArticleWhat a new bovine TB test trial in Devon means for farmers
Farmers Weekly At an undisclosed farm location in Devon, leading vet Dick Sibley, director of West Ridge Veterinary Practice in Tiverton, is trialling a novel TB management package, including two new...
View ArticleExpert advice: What happens if my herd fails a TB test?
Farmers Weekly TB is a growing threat for cattle farmers, with many farms encountering breakdowns for the first time as the disease spreads further north. But what does it mean if your herd is placed...
View Article2017 badger cull ends across 21 areas
Farmers Weekly Badger culling in England has now ended for 2017 across all 21 cull zones, as part of government efforts to curb bovine TB. A Defra spokesman said its farmer-led culling operation...
View ArticleBadger and cattle TB vaccination: The situation now
Farmers Weekly With controversy continuing to rage about badger culling, and questions still raised about the government’s “test and slaughter” policy for cattle, Defra is pumping millions of pounds a...
View ArticleAnalysis: Is the badger cull in England working?
Farmers Weekly In 2015, former Defra secretary Liz Truss claimed the badger culls were “working” and the chief vet had made it clear that Defra’s TB strategy was “delivering disease control benefits”....
View ArticleHundreds of cows shot in Welsh farm's TB ‘nightmare’
Farmers Weekly A single gunshot rings out across the farmyard at Henllan Farm near Whitland, followed by a second, then a third. Eleven in total – a bullet for each of the in-calf, high-value Holsteins...
View ArticleWales aims to be free of bovine TB 'by 2041'
Farmers Weekly Wales has set itself an “ambitious’’ target to be officially free of bovine TB no later than 2041. Unlike England, Ireland and New Zealand, the Welsh government had no timetable for...
View ArticleCurrent UK TB rules - and what's coming next
Farmers Weekly Defra and its devolved counterparts have announced a series of tougher bovine TB rules in the past 12 months in a bid to control the disease, which continues to see tens of thousands of...
View ArticleGove under pressure to review badger cull policy
Farmers Weekly Animal welfare groups are pressing Defra secretary Michael Gove to review the badger cull – but the NFU remains convinced that the policy is working to reduce TB in cattle. Defra is...
View ArticleDefra to start six-monthly TB tests in annual testing areas
Farmers Weekly Cattle farmers in TB high-risk areas will be required to test all herds more regularly from 2019, as part of government plans to stamp out the disease in England. Routine six-monthly...
View ArticleNo need to monitor culls ‘real time’, says chief vet
Farmers Weekly Outgoing chief vet Nigel Gibbens has suggested there is no need to monitor the humaneness of the badger cull in “real time”. Defra has come under fire from animal rights groups for...
View ArticleBovine TB on the rise in England
Farmers Weekly Nearly 40,000 cattle were slaughtered due to bovine TB in the UK over the past 12 months, according to the latest figures from Defra. The staggering toll cost UK taxpayers more than...
View ArticleBadger cull protester avoids jail after scarring farmer
Farmers Weekly A Gloucestershire farmer needed 40 stitches for a nasty cut above the eye after he was attacked by an animal rights activist during the badger cull. Masked Daniele Rinaudo, 33, and...
View ArticleCombined portable Johne’s and TB test 'ready in two years'
Farmers Weekly A combined portable test for Johne’s disease in cattle and TB in humans and cattle could be ready within two years, according to the manufacturers of the prototype. Technology company...
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