Will’s World: Yet another TB case certainly isn’t Diddly Squat

I was sorry to see the news recently that Jeremy Clarkson has had his first case of TB.

It doesn’t make it any less upsetting seeing other people having to go through it, and I say that as someone who’s been talking to friends and neighbours dealing with this insidious disease affecting their herds and finances for many years now.

I wish everyone at Diddly Squat Farm all the very best – hopefully you’ll go clear at the next opportunity.

See also: Severe mental health toll of bovine TB revealed in report

But it reminded me that we also had our first ever breakdown here last month.

Being in an intermediate area with seemingly ever-increasing incidences, our skin test was read on “severe”, and a lovely year-old heifer was the thickness of a fag paper over the limit.

After nearly three weeks in isolation, during which she was extremely stressed, off she went on the wagon to slaughter, and, although she supposedly had lesions, I’d bet a decent amount that was due to a case of mild pneumonia as a calf, and not TB.

I’m just a farmer, though, so what do I know?

Staying busy

With all that happening, you may find it strange that I had to be reminded of it, given the seriousness of the situation. But we’ve been so busy lately that I don’t think I’d fully processed it at the time.

There’s been haymaking, the early harvest, getting stubble turnips in, managing cattle short of grass, summer holiday child-wrangling, a water regulations inspection, and everything else that goes with a busy farm and family life.

I suppose I’d just put it to the back of my mind. Perhaps there was some denial involved, too.

As the old adage goes, though: “Farming is saying ‘but after this week things will slow down a bit’, over and over until you die.”

So, despite life being particularly hectic right now, I’ve been trying to get my head round it all over the past few days.

I say this because, as anyone who’s been through a TB breakdown will know, it isn’t just the mental anguish of losing your cattle that you must cope with, but the almost unfathomable amount of admin involved too.

To date, we’ve received nearly 20 different multi-page letters from the Animal and Plant Health Agency that have left me even more confused than I was to start with.

Stating the obvious

We also had a completely pointless hour-long call with a ministry vet who listed all the blindingly obvious things we needed to do to “keep TB out in the future” – we’re already doing all of them.

We’ve dealt with the valuer and the insurer, arranged another whole herd test for 60 days after the incident, and, despite my best efforts not to, spent a lot of time worrying about future cashflow – it’s all quite overwhelming.

The main emotion I feel, though, is anger. Anger that my fellow farmers have been dealing with all this for decades now, with the stress of it ruining good businesses, splitting up families and destroying lives.

Anger that often very young and inexperienced vets are unfairly being put in such difficult positions.

Anger that successive governments in Westminster and Cardiff have been too cowardly to even acknowledge what we all know is the main cause of the problem, let alone do whatever’s necessary to eradicate it, as almost every other country on Earth does.

Anger that during an economic crisis, when our public services are on their knees, TB is unnecessarily costing the taxpayer millions of pounds a year. And most of all, anger that there’s no end in sight.

As Jeremy Clarkson said: “Honestly, farming? I’m not enjoying it this week.”