大象传媒

TB should be eradicated from England in the next 25 years.That's the aim of DEFRA's new TB Strategy. Scotland has been officially TB free since 2009 and different strategies are being employed in both Wales and Northern Ireland, but ministers are confident that by using a variety of measures in a co-ordinated way they can control the disease in England. TB has spread across cattle herds in the South West and west of the country. The Government says it will continue to spread and could cost taxpayers a billion pounds over the next decade if no action is taken.
The draft strategy which which now goes out to consultation suggests using culling and vaccinating badgers, alongside stricter rules on cattle testing and movement. It plans splitting England into three different TB disease zones and suggests a new partnership, with farmers taking on more of the costs of controlling the disease. Also on Farming Today the government programme to make superfast broadband available to 90 per cent of premises in rural areas of the UK looks likely to be delivered nearly two years later than planned. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Anna Varle.