Badger Culls to Expand, but Politicians Disagree on TB Science

The UK government agriculture secretary and her shadow counterpart were at loggerheads this week at the Oxford Farming Conference on the best way to tackle bovine TB.

Liz Truss said that the action the government is taking in tackling the disease is working and the number of new cases is levelling off, Chris Harris reported from the event.

Ms Truss also announced that the areas where badger culling has taken place would be extended this year.

However, the government’s action to tackle bovine TB came under fire from the shadow agriculture minister Kerry McCarthy, who challenged the validity of science behind the trial badger culls as part of the eradication programme - click here to read more.

In market news this week, the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) Price Index showed a fall of 1.6 per cent compared with the previous trading event.

Both the previous trading events, on 1 and 15 December 2015, showed increases in the price index, whilst the three events before that showed a downward trajectory.

The biggest price fall was for Whole Milk Powder, with a fall of 4.4 per cent. Skim Milk Powder prices fell by 0.8 per cent - read more.

Meanwhile, Netherlands-based dairy company Friesland Campina has announced a move to prevent milk supplies from rising, by paying farmers €2 per 100 kilos of milk if they maintain or reduce milk production.

Sieta van Keimpema, Vice-President of the European Milk Board (EMB), said the move showed how drastic the dairy crisis situation is.

"This instrument ought to be applied not just at individual dairies, but throughout the EU and thus managed centrally,” she said in a statement.

"Initiative on the part of individual dairies is not enough. It is up to politicians in particular to establish the proper legal framework for this, stipulating a market volume that enables prices to cover producers’ costs." - Read more.

In case you missed it: read our special holiday article, Top Ten Dairy Features of 2015.