As you may be aware, the government has finally made a decision with regard to the culling of badgers to prevent the spread of TB in cattle. Â As far as I am concerned this is a good move mainly as there seems to be no scientific evidence to back up the belief that culling badgers will reduce the spread of TB in cattle. Â Although it must be difficult for farmers faced with a heard infected with TB the numbers destroyed each year at about 12000 are tiny in comparison with the number of cows in the country which stands at several million. Â However, the government should compensate farmers to a fair level and, just as importantly, in a timely manner.
What is more worrying is that some farmers are threatening to ignore this and start killing badgers on their land. Â What would happen if we all found a law or ruling that we don’t like and decided to ignore it? Â There have been a lot of reports in the media recently about poor payment to farmers from the major supermarkets which has helped to raise sympathy for farmers, but I am sure that the culling of badgers by farmers in spite of this ruling will negate all the recent improvements in the public image of our farmers.Â