South-west livestock farmers are questioning why TB is not being made the priority when it comes to allocating £12.7m of funds aimed at improving animal health and productivity.
The funding, through the Rural Development Fund, is earmarked for projects to improve productivity, performance and value related to animal health, and could boost livestock producers' profitability by 25%.
But at a meeting of stakeholders, including farmers, vets, colleges and levy bodies, last week, to identify specific priorities and spending targets, farmers expressed anger at the total lack of focus on TB.
"There was clearly dissatisfaction that there was not enough emphasis on TB," said Ian Johnson, spokesman for the south-west NFU. "Everything else is dwarfed by its spectre."
Helen Ashcroft, manager of Meat South West, agreed that TB was a huge issue for the region's livestock farmers. "But there are a lot of other diseases that we must not forget about." These included Bovine Viral Diarrhoea in cattle, and scrapie in sheep, she said. "It would have a huge impact on the industry if we could eradicate these diseases."
One project which drew considerable support was a regional veterinary centre, through which vet students could back up qualified vets, undertake research, and instigate whole herd health plans, said Miss Ashcroft. Improved knowledge transfer was also essential to disseminate the wealth of information already collated.
"But TB does need to be addressed - they can't just scrape over it." The £1.2m capital grant scheme should therefore be targeted at developing TB exemption units, to free up cattle trade and movements, she added.