Farmers should not expect the government to “pick up the bill” where bluetongue is concerned, warns Labour’s rural affairs Welsh Assembly spokesman, AM Joyce Watson.

The mid and west Wales AM made the comments in the Senedd following the launch of the Assembly’s latest strategy Farming, Food and Countryside Building a Secure Future.

Speaking after the Rural Affairs Minister’s statement, Joyce Watson asked what lessons the government had learned from the low uptake of bluetongue vaccine in Wales.

The Welsh Assembly has announced that bluetongue vaccine stocks will be discounted by 50% (from 66p-79p per ml, plus vat, to 33p-39p per ml, plus vat) to encourage greater uptake.

Before the price cut, only two million doses of the 7.5 million secured by the Welsh Assembly last year, had been used.

The Assembly has underwritten the cost of expired vaccine held by the manufacturers.

The total underwritten cost of 7.5million doses was around £3m and the underwritten cost of the remaining 4.3m doses of vaccine is some £1.9m.

Efforts to extend the shelf-life of the vaccine have been unsuccessful.

The remaining stock will expire between the middle of June and the end of August. If Welsh farmers do not use the remaining stock, the Assembly could sell it to other member states, reduce the price further or do nothing and accept the loss.

Joyce Watson said: “I understand why the decision was taken to cut the cost of the vaccine, but, in future, the industry cannot automatically expect the Government to pick up the bill for biosecurity measures.”

In response, the Minister, AM Elin Jones, reminded farmers in Wales that there was no compensation for removal of animals infected with bluetongue, adding: “I am disappointed that so few farmers in Wales have seen the urgency of the need to protect their livestock and businesses from a disease as virulent as bluetongue.

“The lesson that I have learned from deciding to bulk-order vaccine on behalf of the industry, as a representative of the government in Wales, is to think twice before doing so again.

“Representations were made to me that government needed to intervene to ensure that vaccine was made available to farmers... However, the farmers in Wales have taken a different view. I will think twice in the future about risking some of the Welsh budget for that purpose.”