Press Release - Welsh Government's welcomed TB plan

Welsh Government’s welcomed TB plan will be supported by farmers as long as it is quickly adopted, compensation is fair, and all parts of the eradication programme are managed even handedly.  

The National Beef Association has welcomed new Welsh plans to tackle the relentless spread of bovine TB because they confirm the Assembly Government has accepted that only comprehensive controls can extinguish the disease in the Principality.

It will also work with the Welsh authorities to help construct the strong, and long lasting, partnership that will be necessary between cattle farmers, vets, and government if the daunting task of eradicating TB in Wales is to reach fulfilment.

“However the Rural Affairs Department should understand that farmers, who have been under the TB controls for so long, and are desperate to take part in a well organised fight back, against the disease, will be disappointed if there are delays in establishing the intensive pilot action area,” warned NBA director, Kim Haywood.

“And if they later sense that extension of all parts of the comprehensive programme into other areas of Wales is being held up because of an over- lengthy review period, their enthusiasm for a partnership, which includes much heavier action against TB in cattle, will cool down too.”

“The NBA is sure cattle farmers will do all they can to cooperate with tough moves against TB as long as all parts of the programme are even handed, there is no suspicion that its emphasis is too one-sided, and it is obvious that cattle removed during the anti-TB battle are fully compensated as well.”

“This last point is very important. It is clear the Assembly Government is preparing to review the compensation system but it must be careful not to make the same mistake that Defra did in England and introduce payments based on average, tabulated, prices instead of more specific valuations, otherwise half the owners of animals that are removed in anti-TB clearances will automatically lose out.”

“The Association also hopes that this latest Welsh policy move will encourage a comparable response from Defra which must now double its efforts and make sure the even bigger TB problem that burdens England is covered with a similarly unambiguous, and comprehensive, plan of action too,” Ms Haywood added.

For more information contact:

Kim Haywood, NBA director.     Tel. 0131 336 1754