Organic dairy farmer Graham Gibbs from Bentley has been left devastated after nearly a third of his cows tested positive for tuberculosis (TB) and will now have to be slaughtered.

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Photo by Marcus Mingins 

Mr Gibbs, a third generation farmer at Lower Bentley Farm, heard the news last week after a routine TB test resulted in 105 of his cows testing positive for the disease.

They will be taken away to be destroyed in the next few weeks and Graham now faces up to a two month wait for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to conduct another test on the remaining herd.

Graham told the local Standard newspaper group: “It is just awful what has happened.

“The disease could have been spread by other wildlife, including badgers and deer, or brought in from another farm but that is highly unlikely as we conduct tests when the cows come into our farm.

“Once the cows have gone we have to do another test to see if any more have been infected.”

The last dairy farmer in the Bentley Parish, Graham will have to restock to keep his business running and said he was now ‘out of pocket’ as a result.

“My grandfather started the farm nearly 70 years ago,” he added.

“Because we are an organic farm the premium on organic cows is higher than on conventional cows and we don’t get that money back.

“We also won’t be compensated for the food for the cows nor the milk lost in production.

“It has been a terrible situation but we want to thank the vets MacArthur Barstow and Gibbs for all of their help.”

Last week it was announced that six monthly routine tests would be introduced for all herds in the High Risk Area – mainly the South West and parts of the Midlands – with annual tests preserved for herds that have gone five or more years without disease, and farms accredited under the Cattle Herd Certification Standards (CHeCS) scheme, requiring tougher biosecurity measures to be observed.

Grants to vaccinate badgers in the Edge Area of the country – the ‘buffer’ between the High Risk and Low Risk Areas – are also available now for schemes to run next year.