Fwd: [FMDnew] Farm in TB alert, Up to a quarter of my herd could be taken fromme in one go

Originally from: brentns
                        

From: lina van der wal <...>
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Subject: [FMDnew] Farm in TB alert, Up to a quarter of my herd could be
taken from me in one go
Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 06:15:02 -0700 (PDT)

Farm in TB alert
Sep 25 2003

By Andrew Forgrave And Tom Bodden

A NORTH Wales farmer last night told of his fears his
livelihood will be wrecked – after learning his cattle
could be infected with TB.

And he vowed to fight the Assembly over compensation
payments, which may be slashed.

Vets will slaughter 20 of his cattle in a final check
for the bacteria, and he then faces a ban on moving
his herd for more than two months.

"My hands are now tied and I can't see how I can
continue with my business," he said last night.

"But I will not take this lying down – I will fight
this all the way."

The latest outbreak on Anglesey comes as countryside
minister Carwyn Jones was warned bovine TB is running
out of control in Wales.

And Tory AM Glyn Davies added it was problem on the
scale of foot-and-mouth.

Mystery surrounds the outbreak, which occurred on a
farm that runs an enclosed herd, is free of badgers,
and was tested for bovine TB just 11 months ago.

Tests on 160 cattle have revealed 20 positive
"reactors" but the outbreak will not be officially
confirmed until the animals have been slaughtered and
investigated.

Even so the case is certain to send shockwaves through
an industry which has constantly warned of a bovine TB
crisis and demanded urgent action from the Assembly.

Farmers dread the disease which has been described as
a "living hell" because stock on affected units cannot
be sold for at least 60 days – often longer – and all
income dries up.

The Anglesey farmer, who asked the Daily Post not to
reveal his identity, said he was "shocked and
embarrassed" by the outbreak.

He now fears his livelihood will be wrecked by
sanctions imposed on his livestock and says recent
moves to slash compensation payments will rub salt
into the wound.

He said: "Up to a quarter of my herd – which has taken
me 25 years to build up – could be taken from me in
one go, and yet I will probably receive inadequate
compensation."

In July the Auditor General for Wales, Sir John Bourn,
told the Assembly it was paying farmers too much
compensation for bovine TB and ordered a review of
costs. Last year's payments of more than £8m were at
least 50pc higher than the market value of the animals
destroyed, he said.

But the Anglesey producer said he only wanted what his
cattle were worth as breeding stock.

He said: "I will probably be the first farmer to
suffer the backlash of this clampdown, even though I
have always done things by the book."

The farmer, who runs a sheep and cattle unit in the
centre of the island, rears store cattle for selling
on to other producers who "finish" them ready for the
market.

Two of these store cattle, among a batch sold to a
Shropshire farm on January 28 this year, were found to
have TB when slaughtered on June 23.

Tests were carried out on the Anglesey farm last week
and these will now be extended to neighbouring
properties.

The last animal brought on to the farm – a calf from a
neighbouring farm – arrived 14 months ago and one of
the reactors – a bull – was bought five years ago.

And yet, 11 months after the farm was given the
all-clear by vets, 13 cows, one bull and a heifer have
been diagnosed as likely to have the disease.

The farmer said: "It's unbelievable to have an
outbreak like this without buying anything in.

"What worries me is that when my herd was tested, only
males were investigated. In the past all the stock
were tested and it makes you wonder how many are
slipping through the net."

Peter Rogers, former North Wales AM who now acts as
the farmer's agricultural agent, said the size of the
outbreak was "almost unprecedented" after such a short
period following an all-clear.

He said: "The farmer is understandably quite
devastated by these results and the severe
consequences he now faces through his inability to
trade his stock – and, of course, the inconvenience to
his neighbours.

"Certainly the case raises serious questions about the
measures in place to control bovine TB.

"I have written to the Minister, Carwyn Jones, to ask
for an urgent investigation.

"A breakdown of such high numbers of a more or less
self-contained

herd is enough to financially cripple many farming
units and further serves to illustrate that the spread
of TB has got to be treated with far more seriousness
and urgency."

Farming leaders are now calling for a controlled cull
of badgers affected by the disease in a bid to halt
the mounting number of cases and slaughter of
thousands of cattle.

But the Assembly government insisted yesterday that
there are no plans to take any action in advance of UK
scientific tests into the links with badgers and an
inquiry by AMs due to start next year.

Tory member of the Environment and Countryside
Committee, Glyn Davies, said: "This outbreak on
Angle-sey makes it clear that bovine TB in Wales is
running out of control.

Mr Davies, AM in Mid and West Wales, and a farmer in a
TB "hotspot" in Montgomeryshire, called for a full
investigation into the Anglesey outbreak.

"It is now very clear that bovine TB is an animal
health problem on the scale of the recent
foot-and-mouth disease outbreak," he said.

"The UK Government's policy of burying its head in the
sand, hoping that any action can be deferred forever
behind research programmes, is no longer acceptable."

Alan Morris from the Farmers' Union of Wales said that
bovine TB had been spreading rapidly northwards.

"What we want is a common sense approach so we can
eradicate the disease in cattle and the wildlife
population as well – that doesn't mean killing all
badgers."

An Assembly spokesman said yesterday that the backlog
of TB tests on cattle had been cut from 5,000 in
November 2001, to under 450 in July this year.

The figures are rising

FIGURES for Bovine TB in cattle in Wales have been
rising.

In 2000, there were 5,432 herd tests, 150 new herd
confirmed incidents and 1,360 cattle were slaughtered.

In 2002, there were 8,451 herd tests, 315 new
confirmed herd incidents and 4,908 cattle slaughtered.

In 2003, in seven months from January to July, there
were 4,646 herd tests, 403 new confirmed incidents and
3,680 cattle were slaughtered.

The number of overdue TB tests on cattle in Wales in
November 2001, stood at 5,000. By December 2002 the
backlog of overdue tests was more than 1,500, but by
the end of July this year, the figure was less than
450.