Sir,
Mr Denny accuses NFU President Peter Kendall and myself of not reading the badger cull proposals, but it is he who has got his facts wrong.
The proposal is not for two five-year culls and there is no mention of Devon or Gloucestershire. There is a proposal for rapid trials in two areas to ascertain whether shooting is an effective and humane method of culling. If that can be demonstrated there could be culling in up to 10 new areas every year, with culling in each area to be continued for four years.
The NFU would like gas to be an approved culling method, but trials have not conclusively demonstrated that it is effective and humane in all circumstances, and there is no gas currently licensed for use. In addition, there are other legal barriers currently in place which would prevent the use of gas as a culling method. We would like to see these hurdles overcome as soon as possible but that will not happen in 2012. Mr Denny is, in effect, asking for an indefinite delay.
Mr Denny accuses the NFU of “fawning” to the establishment. It is not the NFU who will decide this matter - it is the government, who must act within the law. The NFU has worked hard, on behalf of its members, to demonstrate to government that industry can deliver a safe, humane and effective cull; and it’s because of the NFU’s work on this issue that we are even in a position to talk to government about a proposed cull that is workable for, and deliverable by, the industry.
NFU director of policy Martin Haworth
Agriculture House
Stoneleigh Park
Warwickshire
CV8 2TZ
02476 858 686
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