Cornwall farmer glad she never signed up for badger cull despite three year TB farm lockdown

• Watch Charlotte Gay's report.

A beef and dairy farmer from Cornwall says their farm should be held up as an example of how badger vaccination can work.

Emma Ead's farm is one of the 100 who have worked with Cornwall Wildlife Trust as they reached a record number of badgers vaccinated against Bovine TB vaccine.

It comes as the Defra announced Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Gloucestershire have had more cull zones extended so more farmers have the license to kill badgers to stop the spread of Bovine Tuberculosis.

Emma says, "To be honest, I was quite sceptical at first because that's sort of the way we've been brought up as farmers, because you think you've got to control the disease in badgers as well."

For the past four years the Ead family farm has been working with Cornwall Wildlife Trust to vaccinate badgers on their land. Before that, the farm had to be shut down with no cattle moving on or off because of back-to-back bTB infections which led to 25 cows being culled over three years.

“For us, this disease is like a nightmare that never ends. Fortunately, the vaccinations appear to be working and we want to continue with them. We’re particularly interested in the blood tests results, which will hopefully tell us more about the health of the badgers we have here on site."

Bovine tuberculosis spreads between badgers and cattle, but wildlife groups say the main spread is cattle to cattle so vaccinations and better bio-security is key to reducing the disease.

Emma says farmers should not feel pressured to take up a cull or take up the vaccine for badgers.

"We're really happy with the route that we've gone down and I think is the long term route. I think that this where we influence decisions in the future from Defra. We've been the trial people and we're a good influence going forward."

Cornwall Wildlife Trust has worked with around 100 farmers since they started their programme to vaccinate badgers on Trust land and work with farms.

This year they vaccinated a record 251 badgers between May to November, adding to a total of 800 local badgers in the past four years.

Tom Shelley, conservation manager at the trust says after such positive news "it's disappointing" to see more cull zones announced for the South West.

"We obviously want to see more vaccination in the long term, but we understand there's a transition in policy. It's not instantaneous, but we know that more people are vaccinating and we get more badgers vaccinated as a result."

Rosie Woodroffe, Professor at ZSL and lead for the Cornwall Badger Project, says focusing on vaccination could wipe out Bovine TB.

“Badgers play a small but important role in the cattle bTB problem, and scientists have predicted that vaccinating them could help to eradicate bTB, when combined with controls aimed at cattle.

“As government policy pivots away from badger culling and towards badger vaccination, the on-the-ground evidence that we are gathering should help landowners across the country to decide whether to follow the lead of the pioneering farmers working with Cornwall Wildlife Trust and ZSL.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs says their plan is working and has brought "significant reduction" in the disease with bTB in cattle in cull areas is down 45% after three years of culling and down 50% after four years of culling.

"As a result of the progress made, we are now able to move onto the next phase of the long-term eradication strategy, including the expansion of badger vaccination projects alongside improved cattle testing and work towards developing a cattle vaccine. 

DEFRA also confirmed as part of its long term plan no more new intensive cull licenses will be granted after December 2022.