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Welsh government reveals Bovine TB Eradication Programme Board
The new Board will draw on its members practical experiences with TB outbreaks.
The group will have its first meeting in December.

The Welsh government has revealed the members of its new Bovine TB Eradication Programme Board, which will provide strategic advice to government officials.

The board, consisting of veterinary surgeons, farmers and other representatives, will meet quarterly. Its first meeting will be in December.

The Bovine TB Eradication Programme Board will draw on its members’ practical experiences with TB outbreaks and restrictions. Alongside the government’s Technical Advisory Group (TAG), it will inform how the government targets the eradication of bovine TB in Wales.

Sharon Hammond, a beef, sheep and poultry farmer in mid Wales, is to chair the board. Ms Hammond has been a member of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Cymru TB Focus Group since it began and was previously a member of the 2022 TB Task and Finish Group.

Ms Hammond also has over 30 years experience as a school governor, which saw her chair four governing bodies.

The board’s members include dairy farmer Roger Lewis, who was a representative of the delivery board of the Pembrokeshire Project. He also chaired the NFU Cymru TB Focus Group, and has been a member of the GB Calf Strategy bovine TB subgroup and the Defra bovine TB Cattle Vaccine Central Core Group.

Evan Roberts, a dairy farmer, was chair of the North Wales Regional TB Eradication Board for four years. He was also Clwyd County Chair for NFU Cymru and was involved in the Welsh Government Task and Finish Group on bovine TB.

Also a member of the new Board is Sian Evans, who practised as a veterinary surgeon and now audits official veterinarians and approved tuberculin testers as they conduct on-farm TB testing.

Philip Thomas will represent the British Veterinary Association Wales branch. The board will also include representatives from the Farmers’ Union of Wales and the NFU Cymru.

There will be three ex-officio members: the chief veterinary officer for Wales, the head of Welsh Government Bovine TB Policy and a representative of the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

The work of the Bovine TB Eradication Programme Board and TAG forms part of the Welsh government’s initiative to bring veterinary surgeons, farmers and other experts together to eradicate bovine TB in Wales by 2041.

In 2025, both groups will analyse the TB six-year milestone target review.

Huw Irranca-Davies, deputy First Minister and cabinet secretary for climate change and rural affairs, said: “Partnership working is at the heart of the Bovine TB Eradication Programme here in Wales.

“I am pleased to see farmers and both farming unions at the heart of this new Bovine TB Eradication Programme Board, and the governance arrangements we have committed to – and are now in place.”

Image © Welsh government

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BEVA gives RVNs right to vote

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 The British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) is to allow its registered veterinary nurse (RVN) members the right to vote.

RVN members will now be able to take part in key decision-making processes and stand for BEVA council.

Marie Rippingale, chair of BEVA's Nurse Committee, said: "I am very proud to be a part of BEVA.

"This change will help to empower nurses to speak up and contribute, but more importantly, it will give them an opportunity to collaborate with other members of the equine veterinary profession to bring about change that is positive for all." 

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Farmer survey to reveal on-farm impact of bluetongue

A nationwide survey has been launched to better understand how the bluetongue virus is affecting UK farms.

Results will inform the support that farmers receive for bluetongue, as well as preparing the livestock industry for the future.

The short online survey is open to all livestock farmers, regardless of whether they've had a confirmed case of bluetongue on their farm. It asks how many animals have been affected, the severity of their clinical signs and how it has impacted farm business.

The survey takes five minutes to complete and is fully anonymous.

It is led by Fiona Lovatt, of Flock Health Limited, and the Ruminant Health & Welfare bluetongue working group, in collaboration with AHDB and the University of Nottingham.

Dr Lovatt says: "We need to find out what level of clinical signs farmers are seeing in their animals, whether they are experiencing mortality with BTV-3 cases, and what their appetite is to vaccinate in future for bluetongue serotype 3."

The survey can be found here.