DAIRY farmer and chairman of Northumberland NFU, Hugh Richardson says it is time for the Government to act decisively on bovine TB.

His comments follow concern amongst Cumbrian farmers, where the deadly disease has been discovered in badgers for the first time.

The Government’s APHA (Animal and Plant Health Agency) is investigating after a strain of tuberculosis was discovered in three dead badgers found on roads within a large area of Eden dubbed the “Shap Cluster”.

It has emerged that APHA has been looking into outbreaks of the disease amongst cattle in an area running from Penrith to Appleby, over to Orton and Tebay and back up to Shap and Bampton.

However, the cases in badgers were only detected, they say, at the end of June.

Mr Richardson, who runs a closed Jersey herd at Wheelbirks Farm, near Stocksfield, said: “It’s very much up to the Government to get a handle on this and try and control it. We were wondering whether we would be able to get TB-free status in the North East but with it now being over in Penrith that is now very unlikely.”

He said that were bovine TB to come into Northumberland it would have “a huge impact for us.”

He said. “At Wheelbirks we actually don’t buy any stock in, but we are tested every year (for bTB) because we produce unpasteurised milk.

“Within the local area herds are tested every four years at present but in the event of an outbreak everyone might be put on yearly tests. That would have a knock on financially for farmers.”

He added: “We feel a bit insulated at present but it only takes one infected badger to come and then it’s here in the wild population.”

Tanis Brugh, a veterinary advisor for APHA, told 200 farmers at a meeting in Penrith earlier this month that the particular strain of TB in the Cumbrian herds had not been seen in any other part of the UK.

She said they believed this strain came from Northern Ireland in an animal imported before autumn 2014 – but how it came to be in the Cumbrian herds remained unclear.

Mr Richardson said: “If animals are coming in with TB that’s one thing, but if it is in the wild badger population that’s a bigger concern

“We have three healthy badger populations on this farm and it’s not an issue but I would be worried as a breeder of animals if the wild population got TB. You would hope it would never happen but if it does then all vectors of the disease need to be targeted and that does mean wildlife. It concerns me when it’s acceptable for cattle to be slaughtered but not for wildlife to be treated equally.”

APHA has been investigating outbreaks of the disease among cattle on 16 farms in the affected Cumbria area for the past two years. This has led to more than 100 cattle being slaughtered after testing positive for bovine TB.

In the south west of England government-sanctioned culls of badgers have taken place in a bid to halt the spread of the disease.