From conservation of our natural biodiversity, to sustaining local employment, anyone looking over the fields and pastures of South Shropshire will understand farming is at the heart of life in many communities here.   

Having had some responsibility for my family farm for over thirty years, I am well aware of the challenges local farmers face. But I meet regularly with farmers across South Shropshire to gain other perspectives, and last month welcomed our local NFU branch to Parliament, where we discussed issues of concern. One issue raised with me regularly over the years, though slightly less frequently recently than in the past, has been bovine tuberculosis. 

It has been put back to the forefront of my mind, as very unfortunately on my own farm last week we had ten in-calf cow reactors for bovine TB. Tragically these mostly young animals will be culled this week. The outbreak strongly suggests there remains a reservoir of disease in the wildlife population, as our herd has become a closed herd, where we breed our own replacement cows rather than buying them in from other farms or livestock markets.  

Notwithstanding my own experience, in overall terms, bovine TB is declining across England. In 2013, the government put in place a 25-year eradication strategy for bovine TB, which was not without controversy, since it relied on tackling the reservoir of the disease in wildlife through the cull of badgers in affected areas. 

I received a huge number of emails from constituents, on both sides of the debate. But ultimately the government followed the science and chose the difficult decision to press ahead with the cull, as one of a package of measures. 

A decade later the number of cattle testing positive to the compulsory testing and being culled, has halved, and we are on track to hit our 2038 eradication target. In Shropshire, we have had a 44% decrease in new herds incidents of bovine TB since a recent peak in 2021, even while testing has increased – and TB is now at a level last seen 15 years ago.  

This is a success story for South Shropshire farmers, giving a glimmer of hope for a future without the emotional, physical and financial stress undertaking bovine TB tests brings, let alone positive reactors. But I am concerned for the future. Labour have announced they would stop the badger cull, as they have in Wales, removing a significant key to the success of the last decade. 

I hope whoever forms the next government will think very carefully about changing a policy that has worked so well in reducing TB, and take the tough decisions to save farmers the devastation of TB.