The battle against bovine TB continues, with new
surveillance and movement controls coming into force. Despite the
controversial badger cull being postponed until summer 2013, the
Government remains "absolutely committed" to its
policy.
Badger cull postponed
The NFU took the difficult decision back in October to request
that the pilot badger culls in West Somerset and West
Gloucestershire should be postponed until summer 2013. Peter Kendal
has written to all the NFU members explaining the decision. It
appears the main issue was the difficulty of completing the six
week continuous cull before the closed season took effect. The
police had requested that the cull be delayed until after the
Olympics and Paralympics, further delays were then imposed due to
the legal challenges from the Badger Trust, and on top of this
farmers were put under pressure during summer 2012 due to the
extreme weather conditions.
