Badger cull works so roll it out, urges Owen Paterson

Owen Paterson, who as secretary of state for Defra, championed the trial culling, says that when the cull began last year in Somerset, 35 of the 100 herds of cattle in the county were affected.

Today that number has dropped to 10, he said. Mr Paterson was speaking to farmers, along with fellow Conservative Glyn Davies at Welshpool Livestock Market yesterday.

Both men are fighting to retain their seats as MPs for North Shropshire and Montgomeryshire at next month's election.

Mr Paterson has been vilified for his views on the culling of badgers and even received death threats, he revealed.

But he remains staunchly in favour of the culling of infected colonies of badgers.

"I have been talking to Somerset farmers and have been told the number of farms which are showing TB has dropped since the cull," he said.

"Of 100 herds there are now just 10 herds that have TB reactors compared to 35 before the cull. Surely this shows emphatically that there has been a reduction in the disease and that we now have healthy cattle living alongside healthy badgers.

"We need to roll the cull out."

Montgomeryshire farmer Jonathan Wilkinson, who farms in Meifod, near Welshpool, said he has seen six of his cows culled because of TB and has stringent restrictions on movements from his farm.

"One of the cows was just a week from farming when she tested positive," he said.

"Within an hour of her calving, the cow and her newborn calf were shot dead. It is incredibly distressing for farmers to have to witness scenes like that.

"Where are the animal welfare supporters when this sort of thing happens?"

Another farmer, from the Welshpool area, told Mr Paterson that he had had a closed herd – one where no cows are brought into the farm – for 10 years yet had had dozens of animals culled because of TB. He said herd numbers had dropped from about 350 to 250 because he had lost so many cows to TB.

Farmers also quizzed Mr Paterson and Mr Davies on milk prices and windfarms.