Reacting to the announcement, NFU Cymru is keen to acknowledge positive inroads Welsh Government has made in respect to implementing policy and procedural changes put forward by the union. However, NFU Cymru has stressed that a significant change in both scale and pace of delivery are required to put an end to the suffering of many hundreds of Welsh herds and farming family businesses still being decimated by bovine TB.
Progress
NFU Cymru Bovine TB Focus Group Chairman Roger Lewis said: “Welsh Government’s new bTB governance structures are now fully operational and NFU Cymru welcomes the opportunity to sit around the table with other stakeholders from the Welsh cattle industry, Welsh Government and APHA to discuss TB policy. We appreciate the need for patience in allowing these new structures time to do their job, but the scale and pace of progress needed cannot be overstated. For those people who are dealing with bovine TB on a daily basis, progress towards eradication feels slow and often non-existent. That is why NFU Cymru continues to call for a comprehensive eradication strategy that deals with this disease wherever it exists.
"We cannot lose sight of the fact that behind these statistics there are farmers and their families who are suffering. The union welcomes the recognition by the Deputy First Minister as to the turmoil caused to farming families across Wales because of this dreadful disease. Whether bovine TB is on the farm, or threatening at the door, the financial and emotional scars can be seen running deep across the Welsh cattle industry.”
Roger Lewis, NFU Cymru TB Focus Group Chair
“We understand that the increase in the number of cattle slaughtered as reactors in 2024 - over 13,000 and the most ever in a 12-month period - is partly due to an increase in the sensitivity of testing because of the use of more gamma interferon tests. However, we cannot lose sight of the fact that behind these statistics there are farmers and their families who are suffering. The union welcomes the recognition by the Deputy First Minister as to the turmoil caused to farming families across Wales because of this dreadful disease. Whether bovine TB is on the farm, or threatening at the door, the financial and emotional scars can be seen running deep across the Welsh cattle industry.”
TB policy areas
NFU Cymru recognises the progress Welsh Government has made in several TB policy areas following feedback from the industry.
Mr Lewis added: “We regularly heard from our members that the on-farm slaughter of TB reactors, often heavily pregnant animals, was often the most distressing parts of a TB breakdown. The recommendations put forward by the NFU Cymru TB Focus Group were instrumental in securing a change to this policy and it is positive that the Deputy First Minister has confirmed that 111 herds have been able to take up the opportunity to delay on farm slaughter of TB reactors since that option was introduced.
“The change to the policy surrounding the treatment of resolved standard Inconclusive Reactor (IR) animals that the Deputy First Minister announced today is also something the NFU Cymru TB Focus Group has called for. The scientific evidence is clear that these animals are at significantly greater risk of becoming a TB reactor in the future, so we believe it is sensible to remove that risk from the marketplace to avoid other herds becoming inadvertently infected.
"In our evidence to the Welsh Government bTB Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on this issue, we highlighted the legitimate reasons why some farmers may need to move these animals off their holdings, such as a change in tenancy. We await further details from Welsh Government on how this policy will work in practise and stand ready to play our part in ensuring this change - and the science that sits behind it - is communicated effectively to industry.”