In the time since he was elected in May 2024, NI is “no further forward” in rolling out policies to deal with bovine TB, Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) deputy president Glenn Cuddy has said.

Addressing Co Tyrone members last week, Cuddy bemoaned the lack of progress, despite being a member of a new TB Partnership Steering Group, set up by DAERA in early 2025.

Since then, the most notable announcement has been a cross-border regionalisation project in a 250km2 area in the northwest, where DAERA intends using a test, vaccinate or remove (TVR) approach in badgers to help take down disease rates in wildlife.

However, Cuddy maintained the approach is not in line with expert advice given to the new TB steering group around lowering disease pressure by culling of badgers in hotspot areas.

“They brought in a lot of experts to talk to us. All the speakers pointed us in the direction of needing to take the level of infection down before you even think about doing TVR,” he said.

The project has already secured €6.4m of funding from the Irish Government, although Cuddy said a bid has also been made to the Stormont Executive as the total cost will probably be around £10m.

Given the relatively small numbers of badgers likely to be removed using TVR, the UFU estimate it will equate to a cost of £47,000 per culled badger.

“We have no problem with intervention in wildlife – we don’t think this is the right way to go about it,” said Cuddy.

Withdrew

He also revealed that once the regionalisation project was announced, the representative from the NI badger group withdrew from the new TB partnership established by DAERA.

“I wouldn’t be a bit surprised that when it comes to applying for a licence [to do TVR in the northwest], that there suddenly comes some sort of court injunction or a judicial review. The only saving grace is that it might be seen as a research project,” he said.

Consult

Looking ahead, the union wants to see Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir coming forward with a public consultation on wildlife intervention across NI. That consultation has been “kicked down the road” a number of times, with the latest indication it will be published this spring.

“I’m not sure it will ever come, to be honest with you,” said Cuddy.

He also warned Co Tyrone members it is possible NI does not currently comply with EU Animal Health law around TB testing – it could mean either six-month herd testing or pre and post movement testing of cattle is introduced.