The NFU has written to the BBC to express its 'deep concern' ahead of the airing of a new documentary presented by Queen guitarist Brian May on bovine TB.
The programme, due to air tonight (23 August), will present the findings of a four-year experiment on farmer Robert Reed’s farm to eradicate bTB without culling badgers.
The controversial programme will suggest TB is mainly spread from cattle to cattle via slurry and that badgers are not a "significant factor in the spread of the disease".
Speaking ahead of the broadcast, the NFU said it was "completely unacceptable and irresponsible for Sir Brian May to have been given the platform he has by the BBC".
The union cited the complex and controversial nature of TB in cattle, and the “proven role badgers play in the cycle of infection on farms”.
For decades, Brian May, the Queen guitarist-turned-animal welfare campaigner, has opposed the badger cull by organising marches, protests, and a petition.
Speaking about the new documentary, he said he “came in to save the badgers”.
“I now realise that to save the badgers, you have to save everybody because it's a mess. It's a tragic human drama where people's hearts are broken.”
However, it is generally accepted that badgers are the main wildlife host of bTB, making badger control a key part of the government's eradication strategy within England.
The link between badger and cattle infection was first suspected in the 1970s and was proven in 1997 by Professor Sir John Krebs.
Research analysis of genetic data from the bacteria that causes bTB also found that cattle are approximately ten times more likely to catch TB from badgers than badgers are to catch it from cattle.
Disease transmission within badger and cattle populations occurs twice as frequently as transmission between the species.
Speaking about the documentary, NFU President Tom Bradshaw said he had written to the BBC to express "deep concern, and that of my members".
He said: “I am also extremely concerned the impact this programme will have on the mental health of farmers who are still impacted by this terrible disease on farm. The toll on them and their families is huge.
“We have said this programme is fundamentally flawed. It ignores all the independent peer-reviewed science and evidence that has gone before it; science that continues to demonstrate the current TB eradication strategy is working.
“While I am sure it was well-intended, this programme focuses heavily on one farm, claiming that slurry is to blame for the widescale spread of bTB.”
Research by the government’s own body responsible for animal health, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), has determined the possibility that bTB is spread through cattle faeces as very low.
“The case study farm used to evidence May’s theory has unfortunately since suffered further bTB breakdowns,” Mr Bradshaw explained.
For the past decade, farming groups, such as the NFU, have worked with government agencies to deliver a comprehensive bTB eradication strategy based on evidence.
Three peer reviewed studies - the Birch review, the Godfray report and the Downs et al report - were conducted at scale, the latter showing reductions in breakdowns of bTB in cattle by 66% in Gloucestershire and 37% in Somerset.
Mr Bradshaw said this was something to celebrate': “We are getting on top of this disease, but it has taken time and a consistent approach," he added.
‘Brian May: The Badgers, the Farmers and Me’ will broadcast on BBC Two at 9pm on Friday 23 August.
