‘Pace and delivery on bovine TB strategy must improve’

While improvements to partnership working and targeted revisions to government bovine TB policy are encouraging, further significant changes are still needed to rid Wales of this terrible disease, said NFU Cymru.

This tough message follows the latest update provided by the Welsh Government on its TB Eradication Programme earlier this week.

Reacting to the announcement, NFU Cymru said that it is keen to acknowledge positive inroads the Welsh Government has made in respect to implementing policy and procedural changes put forward by the union.

However, the union has stressed that a “significant change” in both scale and pace of delivery is required to put an end to the suffering of many hundreds of Welsh herds and farming family businesses still being decimated by bovine TB.

‘Progress feels slow and often non-existent’

NFU Cymru Bovine TB Focus Group chairman Roger Lewis said: “Welsh Government’s new bTB governance structures are now fully operational, and NFU Cymru welcomes the opportunity to sit around the table with other stakeholders from the Welsh cattle industry, Welsh Government and APHA to discuss TB policy.

“We appreciate the need for patience in allowing these new structures time to do their job, but the scale and pace of progress needed cannot be overstated. For those people who are dealing with bovine TB on a daily basis, progress towards eradication feels slow and often non-existent.”

Mr Lewis added this is why NFU Cymru continues to call for a comprehensive eradication strategy that deals with this disease wherever it exists.

“We understand that the increase in the number of cattle slaughtered as reactors in 2024 – over 13,000 and the most ever in a 12-month period – is partly due to an increase in the sensitivity of testing because of the use of more gamma interferon tests.

“However, we cannot lose sight of the fact that behind these statistics there are farmers and their families who are suffering. The union welcomes the recognition by the deputy first minister as to the turmoil caused to farming families across Wales because of this dreadful disease.

“Whether bovine TB is on the farm or threatening at the door, the financial and emotional scars can be seen running deep across the Welsh cattle industry,” he continued.

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Positive signs

NFU Cymru said that it recognises the progress the Welsh Government has made in several TB policy areas following feedback from the industry.

Mr Lewis added: “We regularly heard from our members that the on-farm slaughter of TB reactors, often heavily pregnant animals, was often the most distressing parts of a TB breakdown.

“The recommendations put forward by the NFU Cymru TB Focus Group were instrumental in securing a change to this policy, and it is positive that the deputy first minister has confirmed that 111 herds have been able to take up the opportunity to delay on-farm slaughter of TB reactors since that option was introduced.

“The change to the policy surrounding the treatment of resolved standard Inconclusive Reactor (IR) animals that the deputy first minister announced is also something the NFU Cymru TB Focus Group has called for.

“The scientific evidence is clear that these animals are at significantly greater risk of becoming a TB reactor in the future, so we believe it is sensible to remove that risk from the marketplace to avoid other herds becoming inadvertently infected. In our evidence to the Welsh Government bTB Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on this issue, we highlighted the legitimate reasons why some farmers may need to move these animals off their holdings, such as a change in tenancy.”

Mr Lewis concluded that NFU Cymru awaits further details from the Welsh Government on how this policy will work in practice and stands ready to play its part in ensuring this change.

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