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Press Releases
Taro Naw: Fury over bovine TB strategy in Wales
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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Wales' current affairs programme Taro Naw reveals tonight the extent of Welsh farmers' fury following a statement on bovine TB by the Welsh Assembly Government last week.
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The programme also reveals that new figures on bovine TB in Wales show a huge increase in some areas, and that compensating farmers is costing taxpayers millions of pounds.
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Last Wednesday (24 September 2008) Welsh Minister for Rural Affairs, Elin Jones, announced a package of measures to contain the spread of the disease.
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But despite her decision to increase testing of cattle, to move infected animals quickly and to set up regional TB eradication boards, farmers in Wales are disappointed that there was no decision to cull badgers in a specific area.
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Speaking on Taro Naw, broadcast at 9.00pm on S4C, many Welsh farmers have accused the Minister of delaying her decision unnecessarily and of giving in to pressure from animal rights groups.
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In April, Elin Jones said that she was in favour of culling badgers in an area where this would be effective but said last week that more time was needed to decide where this would be.
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But farmers warn that the epidemic is out of control and that drastic measures need to be taken. They are convinced that badgers are spreading the disease from one farm to another.
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Carwyn James, who farms organic cattle in Cilgerran, North Pembrokeshire, speaks out on Taro Naw.
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"The Assembly has been talking about the cull for long enough," he says. "The cost of the epidemic now is astronomical. They really have to do something now."
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Brian Walters, Deputy President of the Farmers Union of Wales, agrees.
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"If the minister doesn't get this right," he says, "we can forget about tackling TB in the Welsh countryside. It will be rampant in wildlife and out of control."
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Taro Naw reveals that new figures on bovine TB show a huge increase in some areas in Wales.
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Between January and May 2007, 3,200 cattle were slaughtered in Wales as a result of bovine TB.
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But, during the same period this year, 4,600 were slaughtered, showing an increase of 42%. Μύ
Taro Naw also reveals that compensation to farmers, as a result of TB, is costing millions to Welsh taxpayers.
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Between April and September 2007, a period of six months, Β£6.4million was spent on compensation, but during the same period in 2008 the cost had increased to over Β£10 million.
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Elin Jones has announced measures to ensure that farmers do not receive excessive compensation.
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But, following the huge increase in bovine TB in West Wales, Mid Wales and Monmouthshire, farmers are calling for measures to tackle the problem in wildlife and, particularly, in badgers, who have been shown to suffer from the same type of TB as cattle.
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Animal rights groups argue that badgers are being victimised unfairly.
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Huw Roberts, of the Clwyd Badger Group, says that modern farming practices are responsible for spreading TB.
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"Scientific experiments have shown that it is cattle that are transmitting TB to badgers," he says. "I'm certain that the epidemic is caused by moving cattle from one area to another."
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Minister for Rural Affairs, Elin Jones, accepts that badgers can transmit TB to cattle and that cattle can infect one another, but says her officers need more time to decide where a cull of badgers would be most effective.
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"I don't anticipate any more delays but we have to take legal and veterinary advice as to where this would be effective," she says.
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"I hope to be able to make a statement on this in the New Year."
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But farmers warn that, if there is no announcement soon, people will take matters into their own hands.
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According to Carwyn James: "More and more badgers are being killed illegally. Farmers are losing patience and badgers are being killed in this area every week."
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Taro Naw, 9.00pm, Tuesday 30 September 2008, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Wales on S4C.
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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Wales Press Office
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