FARMERS in Pembrokeshire have expressed their concerns about a number of planned changes to bovine TB policies, as new figures show the disease has reduced in Wales.

Serious concerns were expressed at a county meeting of NFU Cymru about the potential negative effects of the Welsh Government’s decision to remove pre-movement testing exemptions for cattle that move between blocks of land within a farmer’s Sole Occupancy Authority (SOA) from the end of September 2014.

Pembrokeshire NFU Cymru County Chairman Mike Plumb said: “I’m concerned that the Welsh Government has decided to implement these changes shortly, but it hasn’t fully considered the additional strain that will be imposed on farm businesses as a result of these policy changes. I fear the proposed changes will add financial costs and complexity and will also bring in more bureaucracy and red tape for many cattle keepers.”

Mr Plumb said that while NFU Cymru wants some livestock movement reporting rules to be simplified, it disagreed to fast-tracking the changes to movements between SOAs.

“In many instances cattle move short distances between blocks of land that are within the sole management and control of a farmer and in some cases this can literally mean crossing a road or opening a gate,” added Mr Plumb.

“The changes that the Welsh Government will introduce from the end of September would in theory mean that the farmer would have to pre-movement test the cattle before each movement. This would be totally impractical and prohibitively expensive and is a prime example of the resilience of our farm businesses being thwarted by the Welsh Government’s failure to take a joined up and common sense approach.”

Proposals to introduce standard tabular valuations for cattle slaughtered due to bovine TB also came under the microscope at the meeting.

Pembrokeshire dairy farmer and NFU Cymru president Stephen James said: “I fail to see how a tabular valuation system can ever be comprehensive enough to allow for the huge variations in livestock values for reasons such as individual characteristics, seasonality, breed, organic status and bloodline. A simple table valuation system based on averages will create instances of over valuation as well as under valuation of cattle and it’s my firm view that such a crude approach to determining the level of compensation is neither fair to the farmer or to the taxpayer.

“Bovine TB is one of the biggest challenges facing the agricultural industry and the policy changes planned by Welsh Government pose a tremendous practical and financial threat to the viability and resilience of keeping cattle.”

Mr James has written to the minister requesting an on-farm meeting to highlight concerns about the proposed changes to TB policies.

Meanwhile, the latest figures show that between December 2012 and November 2013 there was a 23% reduction in new herd incidents of TB, with 880, compared to 1,145 the previous year.