The government is poised to announce the locations of two pilot badger culls which will go ahead in England later in the year as part of its strategy to combat bovine TB in cattle. The two pilot sites are being chosen from a shortlist of eight areas; Defra and Natural England officials have been defining exact boundaries to the proposed zones.

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Much ado has been made about keeping the pilot locations secret, as there remains a great deal of opposition to the cull, though Farming Minister Jim Paice said at the Oxford Farming Conference at the beginning of the month that this would not be possible.

Speaking on the BBC’s Countryfile program, prime minister David Cameron acknowledged that the cull would entail “no end of difficulties,” though the pledged his support for it. The trial culls have been pushed back until after the Olympics to ensure there are enough officers available to police them.

However, many farmers and rural residents have questioned the costs involved in policing and undertaking culls and the effect they would have on tourism, given that most Britons remain opposed to the plans. Detractors within the farming community have warned that, as very few of the cull details are set in stone, farmers could be trapped into ‘eradication programs’ the price of which could increase dramatically.

Philip Hosking, president of the Small Farms Association, expressed doubt over whether the expense, conflict and strife to achieve a 16 per cent drop in bTB breakdowns over nine years would be “worth the effort”. He warned, “I’m far from comforted by Defra’s guidelines. No longer are they guaranteeing farmers pay for a cull for just four years; now it’s a ‘minimum’ of four years. If all goes to plan, if your herd had six TB reactors last year, you’re on track to have only five reactors in 2020. Worth the money and risk?”

A large number of animal rights campaigners are expected to protest against the cull at the NFU annual conference in Birmingham. Following the union’s support for the proposals, over 100 demonstrators are expected to attend the protest on the morning of Tuesday 21st February.

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