Website Content

Jump to footer

Letter to Farmers Guardian: The Golden Rule

4 Feb 2011
The Farmers Guardian Article on the 31st January 2011

When responding to the decline of cattle TB in Wales The Minister must have been well aware of the statistics for Dyfed that this article fails to mention The statistics show that Dyfed, which includes the IAA and all those horrendously infected badgers, has for the first ten months of 2010 out performed therest of Walesin the reduction of cattle TB. Is it possible that cattle are spreading this disease amongst each other after all? And that even basic cattle controls introduced from 2008 onwards, will work effectively.

In the first ten months of 2009 the number of cattle culled in Dyfed in connection with the TB control programme was 6211. In the same period in 2010 there were 4020, which is about 36% less. This represents 2,559 less cattle slaughtered for TB, in Dyfed.

The Minister instead of being really delighted, as she should have been, saw fit to be extremely guarded in her response. This substantial reduction has saved the taxpayer roughly 7 million pounds in compensation. All this makes nonsense of the predictions of compensation levels expected in 2010. (TB Eradication Programme Annual Report 2009-2010 p.19)

Her references to falls in 2004 and 2006 are invalid as recently introduced cattle measures to prevent cattle to cattle spread of the disease in Dyfed were not in place.

The reduction in Dyfed of new confirmed TB incidents in 2010 over 2009 will be probably more than 22%. Achieved in only one year of better cattle measures. This is not “any reduction’to quote the minister. This is not a reduction over ten years, but is asubstantial reductionas it is achieved in only one year. It is noteworthy that theMinister was arguing only a few months ago that a 9% reduction in confirmed cattle herd breakdowns over 10 years was a substantial reduction.

However I think I now understand theWAG TB Golden Rule. No matter how fast, or how much, cattle TB declines or even disappears, you can only have a ‘turning point’ in the battle against bovine TB after a badger cull and not before.

Geoffrey Laurens

 

 

Past News

brianmay.com
Bookmark and Share