During a recent debate in the Senedd, Conservative MS Janet Finch-Saunders called on the Welsh Government to introduce badger culling in Wales as another tool in the box for tackling TB.
According to the results from farmer-led badger culls in England, badger culling was shown to reduce TB in areas of Gloucestershire and Somerset by 66 percent and 37 percent respectively after four years.
In his response, FM Mark Drakeford ruled out any form of badger culling for eradicating TB under a labour-led Welsh Government and blamed cattle movements as the single greatest reason why bovine TB cases have increased in the low infection areas. The Government has introduced pre and post movement tuberculin skin tests and employed world-leading scientists including Prof Glyn Hewinson to carry out research into cattle vaccinations.
As outlined in the FUW Welsh Senedd Election 2021 Manifesto, cattle vaccination, in combination with a usable DIVA test, can act as a preventative measure and play a vital role towards achieving Welsh Government’s 2041 target for bovine TB freedom rather than the current ‘reactive’ approach. However, this cannot be considered as a silver bullet as it remains just one method of TB control, and massive increases in Welsh cattle controls have not achieved anything like the impact that badger culling has had in parts of England.
While improvements have been made since 2009 in regard to new herd incidents, the latest statistics show that 10,258 animals were slaughtered in the year to March 2021 in Wales.
The FUW maintains that Welsh Government should implement a badger culling policy where badgers have been shown to carry the disease at the earliest opportunity in order ensure that TB vectors in both cattle and wildlife are being tackled, and continue to support the trials and rollout of cattle vaccinations while recognising that it is only part of the answer to eradicating Bovine TB in Wales.