CLEAR TEST

It is with great relief I can say we are now #tbfree having had our second clear tb test on Friday. This means all movement restrictions and now lifted, so I can now freely trade stock.

It was not really a surprise on Friday as I had been hoping it would be clear and there is a pattern here, as all but my spring calving cows have been housed since our last test and the spring calvers have been on turnips. So the interaction with badgers or feeding where badgers have been is greatly reduced. So as with many farms you go down with bTB in the spring/summer when cattle are grazing grass and are exposed to all wildlife that share the same habitat, and clear it up when the cattle are away from the grass/pasture.

So why do I turn my cattle out to grass, to keep them housed 24/7/ would be totally uneconomic  and it’s also very important that cattle graze our meadows and banks to ensure all the flora and fauna can flourish.

What can I do to keep my #tbfree status, we take all aspects of biosecurity very seriously, and do I believe all I can to prevent tb coming in to our herd. The one thing I currently can’t do is to deal with the source of infection in our badger population; this is paramount to solving the problem I believe. The only solution which is becoming available will be to cull badgers, which will never be popular or easy but essential. I do look forward to a time when we can have cattle and badgers sharing the same habitat without fear of bTB being passed to either species. It will take time but it is achievable. It’s worth saying that I can’t see an easy way around this issue there is no pain free way to achieve the desired result of a #tbfree England.

The weight has been lifted from my shoulders for a while and I hope a long while, fingers crossed for our 6 mts check test.

An Anxious Week

 

We read our 60 day test tomorrow; it is an anxious three days waiting for Friday’s results.

If we have a clear test, and I so hope we do, then restrictions will be lifted as it would be our second clear test. That means for 60 days I can trade my cattle freely and would not have to test cattle for 6 months.

That would be a very welcome relief not to have to test for 6 months, and to think there is no infection in the herd at present.

It’s also really important to be able to trade freely for my business to generate income.

We got in, our last cattle on Monday, off of winter grazing stubble turnips. All my other cattle have been housed since our last test so in hopeful there will have been very little contact with infected wildlife over the last two months and out test will be clear, if it is not clear its desperation and despair, I’m keeping positive for a clear one.

Results will follow.