Marts hit as bovine TB reaches record level (From Western Telegraph)

Marts hit as bovine TB reaches record level

Record numbers of bovine TB casualties in west Wales have raised fears that Pembrokeshire will never be free of this disease.

Hundreds of cattle have been slaughtered this year after reacting positively to tests for bovine TB.

Figures suggest that Pembrokeshire has one of the highest concentrations of TB breakdowns in Britain, and the problem is escalating.

Auctioneer Huw Evans has valued around 3,000 cattle under the TB slaughter scheme in the last 12 months alone.

Although that figure includes other Welsh counties, the majority of cases are concentrated in Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, he explained. One farmer had lost 100 cows this year, he said.

"This is a farmer who regularly sells his surplus dairy heifers. "This trade has been taken away from him because he is restricted from moving livestock off his farm,'' said Mr Evans, livestock director with west Wales auctioneer, Bob Jones-Prytherch and Co.

Added to that he is culling all his dairy bull calves which on current market values are worth nearly £60. This is having a knock-on impact on livestock markets, which are experiencing a major drop in trade.

Mr Evans estimates that the marts operated by Bob Jones Prytherch and Co are losing 100 calves a week. "I know of farmers who are culling beef-cross calves because they just haven't got the accommodation to rear them,'' he said.

Although the compensation paid for culled stock is good, the market value of replacements is rising to reflect demand.The TB compensation bill has increased 300% to £23 million as the number of breakdowns has risen.

Restocking can also take a considerable time which, in the case of dairy cows, creates a drop in income from milk production.

Meanwhile Defra is urging farmers to sign up to a scheme piloting a gamma interferon test, which could reduce the time herds are under restriction. It aims to recruit 660 herds with newly confirmed incidences over three years.