Under the new recommendations farmers will be able to choose to delay the removal of a cow or heifer in the last 60 days of pregnancy and animals that have given birth in the previous 7 days, subject to biosecurity conditions to protect other cattle in the herd
NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: "The success of the bTB eradication strategy is dependent on a range of methods to tackle the disease, including badger vaccination, responsible cattle movements and badger control"
The UFU said they remain determined to ensure none of the 'barbaric proposals' come to pass and will continue to 'exhaust every avenue to safeguard the future of NI's agri industry'
The plans will be subjected to a five-week consultation and would look to retain badger culling as an option in targeted parts only of the high-risk area and edge areas including much of southwest and central England
The Cornock family from Pembrokeshire said the impact of TB on the farm has become 'much worse' since being put under severe interpretation testing. Their hard has dropped significantly from 338 to 243
Devon farm vet, Mr Dick Sibley, said he has been removed from Defra's bovine TB partnership group for ‘challenging' the current bTB programme and its lack of strategic approach
UFU president David Brown said: "We made a strong case against proposed TB livestock valuation cuts and underlined the crucial difference between compensation and valuations. We stressed that these cuts would alienate farmers
The Department for Agriculture, environment and rural affairs have issued a proposal to reduce the compensation rate for cattle removed under the bovine Tuberculosis programme
Normally the family aim to milk a herd of around 120 cows, but at the moment they are only milking 70 cows
Dairy farmer Susie Mottershead said Joyce Watson's MS comments that dairy farmers with chronic TB should find another business was a kick in the teeth. "Never have I felt the mental health of farmers be so completely disregarded. We are that chronic bTB farm," she said