Benyon defends badger cull plans

Mr Benyon, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Natural Environment, Water and Rural Affairs at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), said the disease was “rampant” in some part of the country and that culling was currently the only practical option.
The first, six week trial cull of badgers is set to take place later this Autumn in West Gloucestershire. Another six week trial cull is due to take place in Somerset.
However Mr Benyon, who is a cattle farmer himself, said he hoped it would not prove necessary to allow culling in West Berkshire.
The move has infuriated conservationists and is opposed by the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust, which called instead for “a sustained programme of cattle vaccination, alongside improved biosecurity measures, improved testing and controls on cattle movement.”
Regional RSPCA chief inspector, John Harrod, said: “Culling is totally unscientific and unjustified. Most research shows that culling leads to migration into other areas, thus spreading the disease further. Any mammal can carry TB. We’ve got more deer than anywhere in the country and they’re perfectly capable of spreading it. The badger is a scapegoat.”
Sceptics claim the death of up to 130,000 badgers would achieve, at best, a 16 per cent reduction in cattle TB.
But Mr Benyon said the percentage reduction could be as much as 30 per cent.
He added: “No one wants to kill badgers but this disease is running rampant through parts of the country and the scientific evidence is that culling could lead to a significant reduction. The last Government ducked the issue. We have not.”
Mr Benyon said millions were being spent on researching an effective vaccination but that urgent action was needed now.
He went on: “I love seeing badgers like anyone else but no responsible Government can avoid addressing the issue; this disease is costing the taxpayer huge amounts to compensate for.”
Mr Benyon said that none of his herd had ever tested positive for TB but explained that the effect on farmers was devastating. He added: “If you get a ‘reactor,’ your herd is closed off and you can’t market your stock or move them. You can’t do anything but slaughter them which can be heartbreaking. It’s something every livestock farmer dreads.
“We are passionate about our own Herefords. I know a beef farmer in the West Country who is similarly passionate about the welfare of his stock but I’ve seen the effects of bovine TB diminish his enthusiasm for daily life - he looks absolutely worn out.
“Bovine TB is not a great problem in West Berkshire but we’re not in the clear - it’s not very far away. I believe that culling, properly conducted, will enable us in future to identify specific setts where there’s a problem and that a blanket cull won’t be necessary.”
Scientific evidence has shown that bovine TB can be transmitted from badgers to cattle although, it is not clear how big a role badgers play in the spread since cows can also pass the disease on to other members of the herd.
The culling will be carried out at night by trained marksmen.