Labour accelerates plan to end badger culling

The Labour government is accelerating its manifesto commitment to end badger culling in England by 2029, transitioning to a non-lethal strategy to combat bovine tuberculosis (TB).

In 2024, 4,110 badgers were vaccinated against bovine TB, a 24% increase from the previous year.

Over the same period, the number of badgers culled fell by 12%, now less than half the peak number culled under the policy.

See also: Badger culling to resume despite science chief’s warning

Farmers Weekly has requested the specific culling data from Defra to better understand the distribution and impact of these operations.

Defra farming minister Daniel Zeichner said:

“We promised a comprehensive TB eradication package, which will allow us to end the badger cull by the end of this parliament, and that this what we are delivering – with today’s figures [PDF] showing the clear progress we are making.” 

Defra has confirmed that existing culling licences will be honoured in 2025 “to provide clarity for farmers”, while introducing limited supplementary culls in areas to reduce the risk of TB outbreaks during the transition to increased vaccination efforts.

NFU warning

The NFU has repeatedly warned the UK government not to phase out culling until other viable alternatives, such as vaccination of cattle and badgers, are proven effective and deployable at scale.

Defra says cattle vaccination trials are continuing, with the next phase set for this summer.

The UK government says it remains committed to a “holistic approach”, incorporating vaccination, improved cattle testing, and biosecurity measures.

Latest figures

In the 12 months leading up to March 2025, England reported a herd incidence rate of 7.6 for bovine TB, an increase of 0.1 from the previous 12 months.

During the same period, 21,533 cattle were slaughtered due to TB, a 1% rise year-on- year.

In contrast, Wales is witnessing a surge in TB cattle incidents.

Over the same period, 13,174 cattle were slaughtered due to bovine TB, a 17.7% increase from the previous year.

Herd incidence rose to 7.1, an increase of 0.2 on the previous 12 months.

Despite these figures, the Welsh Labour government has not approved badger culling, focusing instead on cattle-based measures and stricter movement controls.

Kurtz letter

The Welsh Conservatives’ shadow rural affairs secretary Samuel Kurtz has written to rural affairs secretary Huw Irranca-Davies, calling for a “holistic and pragmatic approach”, citing a five-year culling programme in Lincolnshire that reduced badger TB prevalence from 24% to 4%.

“Farmers in Wales continue to face considerable challenges from bovine TB, particularly in long-standing hotspot regions,” Mr Kurtz wrote.

“It is therefore vital that all available tools are on the table, including evidence-based wildlife control where it can be shown to make a meaningful difference.”

The Welsh government has attributed much of the rise in TB cases to increased use of high-sensitivity testing, such as gamma-testing, aiming to reduce infection rates and prevent recurring breakdowns.