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Up to 100 spring and autumn calving heifers are being sought from farms in Pembrokeshire by the Dairy Development Centre at Gelli Aur after it lost a quarter of its herd to bovine TB.

The loss is a huge blow to the farm, which rears its own replacement stock and farm manager John Owen says the culled stock are going to be "virtually impossible" to replace.

"We can't replace them with cows because we can't isolate them from the rest of the herd," he said.

"We need to buy 100 heifers which we can get in calf to calve down next year."

Mr Owen described the results of the recent TB test as a "financial disaster" for the farm.

"The spring calvers were just at the start of their lactation so we have not only lost them but we will also have to forego their full year's lactation," he added.

The valuation of the stock was also disappointing because it won't cover the cost of replacements.

The test revealed 50 reactors and inconclusive in both the autumn and spring calving herds. The farm has had minor losses previously, but never experienced anything on this scale.

Mr Owen says he needs to source bulling heifers for the spring calving herd, ready to be bulled next month.

"Ideally they should be crossbreeds or New Zealand-type black and whites," he said.

"For the autumn calving herd we are looking for pedigree black and whites, either New Zealand-types or British Friesians, to be bulled next November or in-calf, due next September.

"We are desperate to source 50 for each of the herds but appreciate how difficult a task this is going to be."

In February, the Welsh Assembly adopted a recommendation from the rural development sub-committee to implement a badger cull to provide further evidence on how culling wildlife affects the spread of TB in an area with hard boundaries.

3:40pm Wednesday 16th April 2008

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