Badger cull a pressing topic
LAST week I played host to Owen Paterson, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he visited our constituency.
We started with a breakfast meeting with a group from the Devon branch of the Federation of Small Businesses on the challenges facing rural businesses – like slow broadbrand, flooding, the tourism industry and access to finance.
I then took Mr Paterson to Bycott Farm, Halberton, to meet Steve Dibble and his family, the owner of Four Seasons Tree Services, a business specialising in tree surgery, landscaping, fencing and kindling supplies.
Mr Paterson heard about the challenges the industry faced as well as the effect diseases like ash dieback and phytophthora ramorum are having on the environment.
Come and have a look at the extensive range of tiles we have in stock at our Drake Mill, Estover showroom. Most items in stock to take away or delivery option available.
Terms: Showromm open Monday to Thursday 9am - 5pm and Friday 9am - 3pm.
Contact: 01752 421047
Valid until: Saturday, June 15 2013
Later, we had a meeting with the South West National Farmers' Union. About 100 farmers from across the region came to hear Mr Paterson speak and put questions to him.
The badger cull and tackling bovine TB in cattle was the most pressing topic. This devastating disease ruins farmers' livelihoods, threatens food security and causes agony in cattle. In 2011, 26,509 cattle across England had to be slaughtered because of it. Over 22 per cent were from Devon. In the last 10 years it has cost the taxpayer £500m. It is an emotive topic, but as has been shown in Ireland, culling does reduce the levels of TB in cattle. Since 2000, TB in cattle has fallen from 40,000 to 18,500.
The interesting fact from the meeting was that Mr Paterson had received more death threats as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from animal rights activists because of the badger cull than at any time when he was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. I think it goes to show how far some individuals arguing against the cull are willing to go.
I then went to Uplyme to meet the parish council, along with county councillor Jim Knight, to look at ways of preventing flooding. Uplyme has been flooded four times in two years, partly because of a large concrete structure that contains BT cables. I have written to BT asking them to contribute to moving it.
2 Comments
by stormkettle
Wednesday, February 06 2013, 8:31PM
“It's seems it's not bovine Tb itself which 'ruins farmers livelihoods ' , but it's the response by Defra (obeying rules from the EU) to the Tb skin test, that has such effect on farmers.
Bovine Tb DOES NOT cause 'agony' in cattle.
Cattle are killed if they show a 'positive' result to a Tb skin test, which indicates that antibodies are present in response to Tb bacteria.
Cattle do not get a chance for Tb to develop , nor to develop an immunity to it.
Badger culling in Ireland has used snares, causing untold misery and pain for badgers, and is vociferously opposed by animal welfare and wildlife charities.”
by Clued-Up
Tuesday, February 05 2013, 11:26AM
“We're not told who the author of this piece is or what role they play in the local constituency; it's a reasonable guess both are Tory.
The author suggests cattle bTB is the most pressing concern for farmers. It isn't.
As regards cattle health problems bad enough to cause premature slaughter, cattle bTB is far less significant than foot problems and mastitis. For the majority of farmers, though, the main difficulties aren't to do with animal health, they're economic. A surprisingly large number of small farmers need second jobs because their farming activities don't pay well enough to support themselves or their families.
This piece misrepresents reality.
Cattle bTB doesn't threaten food security - roughly nine-tenths of the UK is free of cattle bTB.
Cattle bTB doesn't cause "agony in cattle" - almost all the cattle slaughtered as reactors haven't reached the stage of being ill with the disease. Cattle dislike being confined within a crush - as a stressful experience, though, it is no worse than cats suffer from being placed in carriers before veterinary treatment.
The increase in cattle bTB in Ireland before 2000 is thought to be caused by lax cattle movement controls when farms were restocked. The reduction since then mirrors the natural fall-off in disease rates experienced in this country after the equally lax cattle movement controls were tightened up. The jump in cattle bTB cases in this country was associated with the restocking of cattle (including those from bTB hotspots) after Foot & Mouth.
The opposition to the badger cull is near universal and most of it will be expressed quite legally (eg by boycotts of rural businesses associating themselves with the badger cull and avoidance of tourist areas in which badger killing has been permitted).
Paterson's continued support for the badger cull shows a contempt for democracy which is chilling - the parliamentary vote was against the cull and up to 90% voters have said they don't want it.
Paterson cannot now win our sympathy by alleging that he's received death threats. If he has received ANY death threats worth taking seriously, the police will have followed them up - and there haven't been any prosecutions.”