Since our front page story in last week’s edition, a couple of farmers from the northwest have been in contact to say they are confused at the stance taken by the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) towards a cross-border TB project in the area.

To be fair to all those involved, none of this is easy. On the one hand there is the department trying to chart a way forward that placates conservationists and farmers, while also grappling with a bill to the taxpayer, which is fast approaching £75m per year.

There are also farmers on the ground, totally fed up with the pointless cycle of testing and keen to get involved in any sort of new approach.

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Then there is the UFU which has consistently lobbied for meaningful action to reduce the reservoir of bovine TB that exists in the wildlife population and, in particular, badgers. The argument made is that if you can reduce the disease pressure coming from wildlife by culling, you can then look at other measures, such as vaccination.

Trial

The approach being adopted to wildlife intervention in the northwest is the same test, vaccinate or remove (TVR) policy as trialled in a 100km2 area of Banbridge between 2014 and 2018.

In theory it sounds ideal, as only diseased badgers end up culled, while healthy badgers are vaccinated against the disease. But the learnings from the Banbridge trial show it soaks up a lot of manpower and is quite costly, all for very little gain. If this approach to wildlife intervention is adopted across NI, the magic money tree will have to be found.

Ultimately, the issue currently at play is one of fear that the northwest project will be cited as another reason to delay any form of meaningful wildlife cull across NI.

History tells us that fear is justified and too often action has been delayed in favour of more research, new reports and strategies from new expert groups. In the meantime, the disease in cattle has been allowed to hit record levels.