In 2017, with funding from the Rural Development Program for England (RDPE), the TB Advisory Service was set up to deliver TB biosecurity advice on farm and telephone advice to cattle keepers across the High Risk and Edge Areas of England. To date they have delivered TB Biosecurity Advice to over 3000 farmers.
Bovine TB is the most devastating disease impacting our cattle herds today. Not because of the direct animal health and welfare impacts, the majority of reactors are otherwise fit and heathy animals but because of the massive impacts a breakdown has on the farm business and the knock on effects on animal and farmer health and welfare.
TB has many risk pathways that are out of our control, we cannot control what our neighbour buys in, what area of the country we farm in, but TB is an infectious disease which just like Johne’s, BVD, abortion, lameness and calf pneumonia, TB does have routes onto farm and around farm we can control to reduce if not eliminate risk.
TB policy is devolved to be controlled by the respective governments. The slight variation in policies can be divisive for farmers especially those on the borders. What we need to do is ensure all governments are following the science and evidence to put in place policies that are appropriate for the risk areas. For more information on TB policy in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales visit Bovine TB Policy in the UK | TB hub UK
The English Government recently announce five key areas of priority.
In 2020 the bTB Partnership was formed in-order to improve governance and develop a true partnership across the farming industry, government and other stakeholders. The aim of the group is to set strategic direction for the government’s bovine tuberculosis (bTB) eradication programme and play a key role in co-designing new policies and communications.
For more information: Bovine Tuberculosis Partnership - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
