THE scourge of bovine TB in West Devon is out of control, local farmers heard at an open forum meeting at Lewdown last Wednesday.

The debate at Jethro?s, organised by Okehampton and Hatherleigh NFU branch, drew around 100 farmers and centred on the problem of bovine TB, which many believe is spread by badgers.

The expert panel which took part in the debate and answered questions from farmers comprised Dick Sibley, a vet from Witheridge, who was a member of DEFRA?s Bovine TB forum; Jan Rowe, a farmer from Gloucestershire, whose farm was under TB restrictions for two years and who is a member of the NFU animal health committee; John Cohen, from DEFRA, who has been involved with TB in Devon for the last 15 years and Martin Hancox, from Gloucestershire, a zoologist who previously served as the representative of the National Federation of Badger Groups on the Government TB panel.

The debate was chaired by NFU regional director Anthony Gibson.

Mr Sibley said tuberculosis in cattle was a major problem he encountered as a vet visiting farms.

?The situation is getting worse and worse. This is not a problem that is going to go away on its own,? he said.

Mr Sibley was critical of DEFRA. He said that half a century ago there had been a government policy of eradication of the disease, but this had changed.

?DEFRA have given up on eradication and we seem to be at the stage of trying to control it. We are almost told we have got to live with this. I think it?s intolerable.?

Mr Sibley also said the NFU needed to ?pull its finger out? in lobbying the government for quicker feedback from research trials to help farmers protect their herds from disease.

He advised farmers to prepare and plan what they would do in the event of TB being discovered in their herds, and he said cattle movements taking place with restocking following foot and mouth disease had also contributed to the spread of the problem from farm to farm.

The controversial Kreb?s trial set up by the government ? where random culling of badgers in selected areas is taking place to try to establish if there is a link between badger levels and incidence of TB in cattle ? was also discussed.

?I don?t think you are ever going to convince any minister that annihilation of badgers is going to happen,? said Mr Sibley.

Farmers at the meeting said none of them wanted to see the widespread annihilation of badgers as a solution.

They also raised the issue of unofficial control of sick badgers on their land by using a shotgun. Mr Sibley said while there was anecdotal evidence that this worked, there was plenty of other evidence it did not.

Mr Gibson told the meeting: ?TB is a depressing subject, but what I would say is we must stick together, work through the NFU and work with our vets and keep the pressure on the government to make sure the resources are being put in to keep some sort or control and to mitigate the effect of the disease.?

Mr Gibson described tuberculosis as the ?forgotten plague of British agriculture?.

He said it was important to concentrate on how to stop the spread of TB on farms in ways which farmers had control over rather than get completely taken up with condemning the badger.

The priority should be to ?make the lives of people who have got TB in their herds as bearable as possible?, he added.

Mr Hancox said he was on the side of farmers but did not believe there was a clear proven link between badgers and the spread of TB in cattle. He said his view was based on ?robust science? but he agreed there was ?no doubt whatsoever? the bovine TB situation was ?out of control?.

Mr Cohen said research to find a vaccine for tuberculosis in humans, which was being well-funded, might also have spin-off benefits for agriculture.

?There is still an awful lot of work going on to improve the vaccine in humans, and I believe we will get something out of it,? he said.

Also attending the meeting was Graham Medley, from the biological science department at the University of Warwick, outlining his research project in which many farmers in the area had been invited to enrol.

Dr Medley said the research team at Warwick was carrying out a long-term study comparing data on stocked and non-restocked farms and hoping to calculate the risks of TB breakdown on different farms.