It's six months since I last posted, and my excuse is the novelty to be 'selling' cattle again ! That's 'selling' as in marketing stuff you were proud to walk around the ring, as opposed to getting what you can through a licensed fattening unit. We've sold about 50 animals of all classes from stores to 3 breeding bulls.
So, while I've been filling in market entry forms what has the rest of the country been up to on the TB front? The Welsh have been led up the garden path trying to mirror the protocol of the RBCT, although why anyone would want to launch into an infected badger population with cage traps for 8 nights very occasionally, is a mystery. And the NFU, having snaffled a bit of EU modulation cash from our SFP cheques has set up some TB advisory units. The first, based in Exeter was introduced at the Royal Cornwall Show in early June. The 'emotional' and 'trading' sections will take pressure off the Farm Crisis network and Animal Health, but I have reservations about advice for what is referred to as 'disease risk management'.
To me that is Defra -speke for that over used term, bio-security.
This is relatively easy for a single species vector, particularly one which responds to dipping its boots. But it's a different kettle of fish trying to exclude over protected, free ranging wildlife.
The implications of this are wide ranging. We have a government with a severe cash flow problem, and they will be eyeing up the TB budget. I can't see vets queuing up to jab-one, jab-one-free although I understand both testing and transport of reactors may be put out to tender. And abattoirs already have Defra in an armlock on reactor slaughter, with no transparency of costs v. salvage value. So what's left to raid? Farmers.
Already some who may have allegedly overshot their 'test due' date have received a letter reminding them of their obligations under SFP cross compliance. And if the farmer is at fault, all well and good. But if it's your vet having a senior moment, or AHO admin on maternity leave, what then? I did say to the Exeter team, that when they are doling out such 'advice' (biosecurity) they must be pretty sure that it will work. And having been trying (unsuccessfully) for several years to do just that, I assured them it wasn't that easy, despite what Defra had printed in it's 10th booklet (out of 15 which now replace the single information book farmers used to receive when they went under TB restriction.)
Booklet No.10 is decorated with many pictures of badgers, all looking shiny and bouncy, and contains the following gem:
"Badgers present a particular challenge to farmers who want to keep their herd TB free".
Strictly speaking that is a wriggle. Badgers do not present a problem to farmers at all. But Defra's ongoing prevarication over dealing with the endemic TB which they carry, most certainly does. And I do get frustrated when library pictures of healthy badgers are used to illustrate TB articles. Tuberculosis is an awful death, leaving victims weak, disorientated, often riddled with abscesses, some of which would be extremely painful.
We are over half way through this years'calving, so groups of cows and calves are batched with an appropriate bull and turned away onto fresh grazing. I'm glad we 'badger proofed' those creep feeders last year as Animal Health vets tell me that at least two outbreaks of TB in young beef calves were most likely traced back to contact with contaminated feed, after badgers entered creep feeders. What height are they? I must measure, as Defra's advice on trough height is still stuck in a groove of 30 inches when they have paid for research which shows badgers leaping into troughs over 4 feet off the ground.
And that is exactly what I mean when I say that if farmers are to be offered biosecurity advice, compliance with which may possibly be linked to the level of tabular valuation money offered for reactors, then 'somebody' better make sure that advice works.
The good news for us, is a second clear test. This means we're now clear to trade for a year, subject to preMT. Long may it continue.









Recent Comments