The reality of bovine TB on Welsh farms is being misrepresented by selective reporting of the data by the Welsh government, says the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW).
It comes after a statement by rural affairs minister Lesley Griffiths in which she said that long-term trends show fewer affected herds and new herd incidents across Wales.
But what she didn’t point out was that the number of TB cattle culls had actually increased in three of Wales’ five TB regions.
At 554%, the highest increase was recorded in the low TB area and there were increases recorded too in the Intermediate Mid and the Intermediate North - 16.8% and 141%, respectively.
In the High East and High West regions there were decreases in the number of cattle slaughtered.
In her statement, Ms Griffiths said: “New herd incidents have decreased by over 18% in the 12 months to June this year, when compared to the same period five years ago, and the number of animals slaughtered for TB control has also decreased by almost 5%.’’
She also said that there were “positive trends’’ in the high TB area west, where the number of new incidents has decreased by over 25% when compared to the same period over five years ago.
The FUW said her comments were “overly positive” and distorted the reality of bovine TB on Welsh farms.
The FUW had analysed official Defra data, compiling a regionalised breakdown of the number of cattle slaughtered in the 12 months to June 2023 and comparing it to 2017 data.
Only two regions, High East and High West, saw decreases in the number of cattle slaughtered.
This resulted in a pan-Wales figure of 5% in the reduction in the number of cattle slaughtered.
The FUW questioned why the Welsh government had reintroduced pre-movement testing for cattle movements within and from the low TB area and why it had extended the requirement for post-movement testing in the intermediate TB areas from 1 February 2024.
Between 2017 and 2022, there were 576 reactors, 610 inconclusive reactors (IRs) and 49 direct contacts recorded out of a total number of 864,034 pre-movement tests.
Over the same period, 52,962 post-movement tests detected just 10 reactors and 22 IRs.
If you’re a cattle farmer in Anglesey and you know the situation is getting worse in your area because you have had a TB herd breakdown and you know several other farms that have had new breakdowns, seeing these pan-Wales statistics can be really infuriating.
The FUW believe the statement should have openly recognised this variation by acknowledging the 554% rise in Anglesey.
To state that 5% less cattle are being slaughtered overall just doesn’t reflect what’s happening on the ground.