大象传媒

Disease can have a devastating impact on livestock farms as Duncan Maughan and his family in north east Cumbria know all too well. For the last two years their dairy herd has been infected by two strains of a rare disease called Mycoplasma; the combination of those two strains proved difficult to diagnose and impossible to treat and the cows have been slowly wasting away with failing fertility & milk yields, as well as numerous other ailments and crippling septic arthritis. It's cost the farm more than a million pounds, they're not insured for it and now it's so bad Duncan has finally taken the difficult decision to cull what's left of the herd. Caz Graham joins him as he milks his cows for the last time and sees his stock shipped off to the abattoir. She hears the family's disappointment and frustration at the lack of support they feel they've had from DEFRA and the Animal and Plant Health Agency, the government body responsible for identifying and controlling disease in farm animals and hears how those bodies respond. And she hears about the uncertain future facing a family who feel this disease has cost them everything.