‘Follow Welsh’ call on badger culling

Apr 11 2008 by Sam Wood, The Journal

THE ROYAL Association of British Dairy Farmers has said that the Government should follow the example of the Welsh Assembly and introduce a programme of badger culling to combat bovine TB.

Following the announcement earlier this week that the assembly will target TB hotspot areas in a pilot project which could be expanded, RABDF chairman Lyndon Edwards has said he feels the English Government needs to begin a similar scheme.

Speaking yesterday he said: “It’s high time that the English Government took notice of the Welsh Assembly Government’s lead and follow suit to end the unnecessary suffering to badgers and cattle, and prevent even further spread of the insidious disease in England. Similar measures were contained in the EFRA committee report’s multi-faceted approach to tackling bTB presented to Government in the last few weeks. The document should be taken off the shelf and implemented immediately.

“The Assembly’s announcement reflects the power of common sense.

“Its decision to introduce a raft of bTB control measures to Wales, including culling badgers in hotspot areas, is a major breakthrough for all livestock farmers and its importance cannot be over-stated.”

The Welsh scheme will cost about £27m, to be spread over three years. It has not yet been decided exactly where the cull will take place.

Shadow agriculture minister Jim Paice said: “While decisions are taken in Wales, farmers in England are left in limbo by a Government which continues to wring its hands and do nothing.

“We want to see healthy wildlife alongside healthy cattle but unless action begins soon, the prospects of either are bleak.”

A spokesman for the Department of Rural Affairs has said they will consider all the evidence before deciding whether to implement a cull in parts of England.

Farmers’ Union of Wales vice-president Brian Walters said: “I welcome that we are going down the path of a badger cull. We don’t know the area or how it’s going to be implemented yet. I think it has to be a large enough area with natural boundaries and it has got to be over a fairly long period.”

Eighteen of the 350 cows on his farm near Carmarthen, west Wales, have been slaughtered. Mr Walters said he was concerned by the idea of testing every herd in Wales. “Is that a bit of a waste of resources? But there we are, if that is the way you want to go we will accept it as an industry.”