THE Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly and department of the environment, food and rural affairs in Westminster have issued details of a programme aimed at fighting an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis. The outbreak threatens an industry still recovering from the foot-and-mouth epidemic of four years ago.
Scotland has been lucky, with just a handful of incidences of bovine TB in recent years. Last year, there were 19 confirmed cases.
However, south of the border, Defra is faced with an annual compensation bill of more than [pounds]100m. There were 1663 cases of bovine TB in England and Wales last year.
An independent analysis suggests that the direct cost to a farmer with a herd of 100 dairy cows is in the region of [pounds]28,000.
Yesterday, Defra and the devolved administrations published a set of rules with a 10-year programme aimed at "helping government, vets, farmers and wildlife groups to tackle bovine TB".
In Scotland a tough line has been adopted in recent months. Any cattle "imported" from high-risk areas must be tested on the farm of origin and then isolated and tested again by the new owner.
In addition, NFU Scotland wants to see rigorous monitoring of wildlife, especially badgers, which are regarded by many farmers and vets as being the main carrier of TB.
David Mitchell, vicepresident of NFUS, said:
"This long-term strategic framework will add to the short-term measures the Scottish Executive has already put in place.
"We fully support the proposals for compulsory . . .
testing of cattle from high-risk areas and we also support the move to restrict movements of cattle where the regular herd test is overdue."
Ben Bradshaw, the minister responsible for animal health at Defra, has been under pressure to approve a widespread cull of badgers in the areas most affected by TB in England. This would likely cause a huge protest.
However, Mitchell is pragmatic. He said: "The issue of badgers is a contentious one, but their role in the possible spread of TB must be carefully monitored.
"Whilst most Scottish cases of TB have resulted from cattle imported from high-risk areas, there are still some cases which have no confirmed source. The executive must keep an open mind on this."
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