TB Strategy Refresh: What Really Changes for You?

Andrew fed England's new fifty-five-page bovine TB strategy into AI and got nine bullet points back — with no way of knowing whether any of them were actually right. So he called Sarah Tomlinson, Lead Veterinary Science Expert at AHDB and the TB Advisory Service (TBAS), instead. Sarah Tomlinson chaired one of the working groups behind the strategy, published in June 2026 with input from over a hundred farmers, vets and scientists — a marked shift from the government-led vision behind the original twenty-five-year eradication strategy in 2013/14. The headline that's grabbed attention is cattle vaccination by 2030, but Sarah Tomlinson was clear it's a smaller part of the strategy than the coverage suggests: field trials are largely complete, and the delay comes down to paperwork, trade rules and getting the DIVA test validated for distinguishing vaccinated from infected animals. Badger culling is ending in favour of vaccination, building on pilots like the one in East Sussex, delivered by local farmers and vets. The change most likely to affect farmers directly is around ancillary testing. Under current rules, a positive animal must be culled within ten working days, triggering movement restrictions and sixty-day testing — which is exactly why farmers haven't wanted more sensitive tests run on their own herds. The strategy proposes letting officially TB-free farmers use these tests without triggering any of that, mirroring how the industry already manages Johne's disease. Herd risk scores will also be shared directly with farmers for the first time, and a new industry-government delivery board will decide priorities and timelines. Sarah Tomlinson named local ownership as the real theme running through the strategy — government can't deliver this alone, and farmers and vets are already good at managing infectious disease without being told how. She also shared a message from a farmer she'd supported through TBAS that made the human cost of TB breakdowns impossible to ignore alongside the policy detail. The strategy also references Enferplex, the bulk milk test at the centre of a major new GB-wide study — hear the full findings in this week's other episode, Revolutionising TB Testing: Is Bulk Milk the Key? Additional Help and Resources For more information on Bovine TB, please see the below links to associated websites: • TBAS: https://www.tbas.org.uk/ • TB Hub: https://tbhub.co.uk/ • TB Free England: https://www.tbfreeengland.co.uk/ • ibTB: https://www.ibtb.co.uk/ • Defra TB website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bovine-tb • Animal & Plant Health Agency, Recent TB Instruction Updates: http://apha.defra.gov.uk/vet-gateway/TB/index.htm • Official Veterinarian (OV) Conference: https://officialvet.com Help & Support If you, or any of the farm team, are concerned about how dealing with bTB is impacting your mental health, help is available via several organisations including R.A.B.I, Yellow Wellies, FCN and YANA. You are not alone. For help, support, additional information or for someone to just have a chat with please visit the links below: • Online mental wellbeing service – RABI: www.rabi.org.uk/how-we-help/mental-wellbeing • www.farmwell.org.uk • Mind Your Head – YellowWellies.org: www.yellowwellies.org/mind-your-head • YANA: You Are Not Alone – Rural Mental Health Support: www.yanahelp.org • www.fcn.org.uk • www.thefarminglifecentre.org.uk This episode was recorded in July 2026, and all information was correct at the time of recording. Please note this transcript was generated using AI transcription software. Despite best efforts to ensure accuracy, there may be some errors in the final piece. Have you had a chance to read the strategy refresh yet, or are you waiting to hear what it means in practice first? If you enjoyed this episode, please share it, subscribe, and leave us a review. Send us Fan Mail For more information about our podcast visit www.chewinthecud.com/podcast or follow us on Instagram @chewinthecudpodcast, or on Facebook and LinkedIn as ChewintheCud Ltd . You can also email us at podcast@chewinthecud.com.