CRT badger and TB policy

Purpose 

The purpose of this policy is to address the CRT’s stance on badger culling.  

Scope  

Our approach is guided by scientific evidence, government policy and the wish to be humane to both badgers and cattle.  

Badgers can act as a wildlife reservoir for Mycobacterium bovis, the bacterium which causes TB in cattle.   

Over the past decade, TB has had a devastating impact on British livestock and wildlife. According to Defra, over 278,000 cattle have been compulsorily slaughtered and over 230,000 badgers have been killed in efforts to control the disease.   

The CRT understands how traumatic Bovine TB is in the farming community. Farmers live in permanent fear of getting a positive TB test and it has terrible emotional and financial impacts. We realise the need to find the right mechanisms to control the disease.  

Defra has announced it is ending the badger cull in the UK and is no longer licensing new cull areas. There are no current licences that affect CRT farms.  

The CRT supports the strategy to introduce a new bovine TB eradication strategy, with a range of disease control measures, such as vaccinations and a badger population survey to end the cull by the end of this parliament.   

Review 

This policy is reviewed periodically and updated as necessary to reflect changes in regulations, best practices, or land management considerations.