Bovine TB

In Your Field columnist James Wright on the effects of the hot weather, bTB testing and Natural England decisions, and the lessons children learn from farming

Farmers Guardian livestock specialist Ellie Layton on the new bovine TB eradication strategy for England

A new Farmers Guardian Podcast recorded at the Royal Cornwall Show lays bare the emotional and financial toll of bovine TB and what it will really take to beat it by 2038

This week from the Farmers Guardian editor Katie Jones

A shift to local, targeted control of bovine TB, with farmers driving decisions rather than waiting on centralised direction or being hampered by political interference, lies at the heart of the new plan to make England bTB-free by 2038

Visit the Farmers Guardian stand at the Royal Cornwall Show where on Thursday, June 4 farmers and industry experts will debate the next steps for bTB control in England

Farming 405 hectares (1,000 acres), a mix of tenanted and owned land at Gatcombe Farm, near Seaton, Devton, Robert Reed and his family milk 350 all-year-round calving Holstein cow via five robots and are achieving average yields of 12,000 litres

Alan Carter farms in partnership with his parents, Paul and Christine, on a 162 hectare (400-acre), 400-cow dairy unit at Constantine, Cornwall, with 130 milking cows, supplying Saputo. Alan, also a Parish Councillor, and his wife Sarah, have two children, Ross and Dana

In the first year of the project, vaccination will be focused in South Oxfordshire, North Worcestershire and North Shropshire

James, along with his wife Isobel and their two young children, recently bought their first farm, and plan to run beef and sheep over 13.8 hectares (34 acres), renting a further 44.5ha (110 acres). James works for tech firm Breedr as UK country manager. You can follow them on Twitter @jpbwfarm