Decisions on bTB needed

He specifically makes the point that the upfront annual cost of £40m, allocated to the current TB testing and compensation budget, hardly scratches the surface when it comes to determining the real burden of this disease on the farming industry and rural communities throughout Northern Ireland. And he’s absolutely right.

The emotional stress visited on families when herds of cattle, built up over many years, are removed from them must be horrendous. No amount of money could make up for this level of loss. And, of course, it must be pointed out that the current compensation scheme makes no provision for the subsequent loss of income incurred by farmers in the event of cattle being removed. I logged on for last week’s UFU bTB press briefing. Union president Victor Chestnut was incandescent with rage at the perceived insinuations made by the Department of Agriculture in the latest bTB strategy document, to the effect that fraudulent activity is a meaningful reality at farm level when it comes the issues of compensation and animal identification subsequent to a bTB test taking place. Thankfully, the North Antrim man cleared this very important manner up very quickly. And rightly so. Farmers must be adequately compensated for animal losses incurred through no fault of their own. Meanwhile, bTB in wildlife remains the elephant in the room. The fact is that badgers and cattle both have the disease. So it makes sense that the two populations must be tackled if any meaningful attempts are to be made in eradicating the disease once and for all. I am fully aware that culling badgers is a very emotive subject for many people. But surely it makes sense to remove sick animals from within any population. Farmers are not anti-badger. Every farmer that I have ever met is more than keen to ensure that the biodiversity found in all our rural areas is added to on a sustainable basis.

But where bTB is concerned, it all comes down to a question of balance. Badgers are part of the disease problem, so they must be taken account of when it comes to determining a solution to the problem at hand. The other irrefutable reality within all of this is the fact that the current bTB eradication measures are not working. The need for a fundamental change of approach is, therefore, obvious.