Farmers say badger cull in the UK reduces TB in cattle

Farm leaders in Britain have recorded reduced incidences of tuberculosis in cattle in areas where badger culling is being used to tackle the disease in livestock.

Farmers attending the National Farmers’ Union annual conference in Birmingham were told that in the two pilot areas in Somerset and Gloucestershire, the incidence of TB on farms had decreased.

President Meurig Raymond urged politicians not to make the controversial cull “a party political issue” in the run-up to the general election, and criticised Labour for pledging to give up on culling.

He also wants the next government to make food and farming a priority, in the face of a report which showed declining self-sufficiency of UK food production. Research from the union suggested the UK’s self sufficiency is in a 30-year downward spiral, with UK farms meeting just 60% of domestic food needs.

With the UK population expected to grow to 70 million in 20 years, the figure could fall to 53% by the 2040s, the union claimed.