Action on bovine TB must have proper eradication programme

The cows are still in, and the grass is still green (just), and if it rained properly could still be saved, but we are now really at the cliff edge, and it will not hang on much longer.

The maize is also desperate for rain, and needs it very soon in order to fill the cobs, so that at least we have quality if not quantity this next winter. We are eating into our stocks now that we are fully feeding all our cattle, and of course they are eating huge amounts, not caring where tomorrow's feed comes from '“ that's my problem.

The truly amazing thing is that Gwenan is still grazing the young-stock at Tillington, and whilst she is now staring at an almost bare cupboard, and has nothing but dust behind the cattle, it has surprised us all. We will yard them as soon as the grass is all gone, but there is still a tinge of green on the silage aftermath, which will leap out of the ground as soon as it rains I'm sure. Luckily, we are getting new crop straw delivered in, and they can all tuck into that with some nuts, until the grass is green and lush again.

The new straw is (as you would expect) golden and beautiful, but we have run into trouble already with the bio-digester. Several blockages in the feeding system, all of them caused by pick-up reel tines from the straw baler. This happened as usual at the weekend, and caused a lot of hassle.

Having bought all the straw from areas with no flint in the ground for the whole year ahead (not easy), we now have a different problem. There is a lot of gas production in our straw bedded yards (just as well with the cost of straw!), and we are putting 11 tonnes a day of straw dung in the AD plant; the cows benefiting from new beds every week and plenty of lovely straw every day.

n Cuts in Government spending are beginning to bite, with many quangos being cut and dispensed with even before the October announcements which will outline the final position. The Food Standards Agency has survived (just), but it will concentrate on its core responsibility, which is food safety.

Nutrition and food labeling will now not be part of the remit, and as this column has often pointed out; that can only be a good thing.

Having been in existence for 10 years, the challenge for the FSA is to go back to basics, and make a good job of food safety and hygiene, following sound science as it did under Professor Krebs.

John Krebs started with the basics all right; he announced at the time that 25 per cent of men and 17 per cent of women did not wash their hands after visiting the toilet. I have never forgotten this, and you will not see me take food or crisps from a bowl that sits on a bar or a table where everyone has access. I remember discussing it at the time with friends, and a young mother who had two very active boys told me that since she had started buying liquid soap, the boys were healthier, and seemed to suffer less with stomach bugs.

John Krebs also informed consumers that buying organic food was their choice, but that it contained no nutritional advantage over other foods, which could be established at the time.

The Agricultural Wages Board is also being abolished, which is another strike against the beaurocrats. This relic of a by-gone age has past its sell-by date a long time ago. We have a minimum wage policy in this country, protecting the vulnerable, and a hugely complex document, which has huge chunks of text, with detailed rates and conditions which farmers found very difficult to cope with, meant that it was more of a hindrance than help.

The minimum rates also gave the industry a poor reputation I felt, as they are not applicable in most cases. With such a shortage of labour, and the skilled nature of farm work these days, it is very rare to find anyone in any responsible position, who is not well paid and looked after.

The Agricultural Wages Board did; however interfere with the way businesses are run. For instance, salaries were not catered for under the order, and trainees, development schemes were also penalised. The ridiculous wage negotiations that took place between the NFU and UNITE, was another bit of theatre which belonged firmly in the bad old days of the 1970s.

No doubt there are more to follow, as Defra looks to see which of its 87 bodies are absolutely essential to conduct its important work in the 21st century. Animal health and disease outbreaks, flooding, radiological leak; all these are front line services, and there are others which then take their rightful place in the scheme of things. I am still very aware that the scale of cuts proposed (Defra could be one of the deepest cuts) will fundamentally change the department, and will affect farmers financially.

It is inconceivable that such radical change will leave a department which will not be looking to transfer cost to the industry.

It is vital therefore that costs are based on essential need, proper efficiency measures, and that the industry has a voice and responsibility for any area which they may be asked to contribute financially towards. Bovine TB of course is a good example, where if action is taken to curb the disease, we would want to see a proper eradication programme in place, fully costed, and properly thought out.

I had a meeting with the Chairman of New Zealand Animal Health Board and Dr Paul Livingstone (manager of TB eradication programme NZ) at the Royal Welsh Show. I also listened to their hour long seminar, telling welsh farmers of their experience in NZ.

They were quite clear from their own programme that this is a 'three legged stool'. Control of disease in cattle with slaughter programme, tight control of animal movements, and managing the numbers of wildlife vectors to acceptable levels (in their case deer and in particular possums).

In 1996 they had 1,400 infected herds, by today that has reduced to 94; they were told in 1985 that they would have to live with this disease.

However, the farmers have funded most of this programme, and if they stop now, by 2040 they would be back to 1996 levels.

Persuading the farmers to keep funding this for a further 30 years will be a challenge, but it must be done if they are to truly eradicate the disease from their islands.