Traditional Native Cattle Breeds Sale - Saturday 12 April 2008

AlisonKirk · Post by **AlisonKirk** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 7:34 pm

McCarneys of Worcester have been approached by a number of traditional cattle breed vendors re staging a sale at Worcester Livestock Market, which at the current time is in a BT Surveillance Zone.

Sale date is Saturday 12 April 2008 & entries close on Friday
7 March 2008.

If you wish to support this sale please contact McCartneys, who will forward entry forms, etc. (Tel: 01905 769770 Fax: 01905 769772 E-mail: worcester@mccartneys.co.uk)

Alison Kirk
Secretary, Midland Dexter Group

Sylvia · Post by **Sylvia** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 9:15 am

So does that mean that anyone outside the BT Zone is excluded? Can't bring home unsold animals? Can't buy at the sale?

AlisonKirk · Post by **AlisonKirk** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 11:16 am

Hi Sylvia

I think that's about it! People outside aren't excluded, but if animals are not sold they can't return to the clean area. There may be people within the BT SZ who may wish to take animals there, but things may have changed by 12 April.

With all the restrictions things are not going to get any easier, I don't think. We were hoping to sell heifers for breeding this year, but we've now decided to sell everything for beef - only keeping the best heifers for replacements into the herd. It will take some of the hassle away, provided the abattoir keeps going!

But that's farming, we get over one obstacle only to be confronted with something bigger!

Alison

stew · Post by **stew** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 2:04 pm

they wont take of the bt rz/sz but what they should do is extend it to the whole country then we can move stuff about
im live in the sz but go three miles down the road and your out of it nearly forty acre of grazing is out of the sz meaning i cant graze it.

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 3:58 pm

I can see no sense whatever in extending the zone to include the whole country. The realistic hope is to contain the infection to more or less the area affected in 2007, whilst the vaccination programme kicks in. If we free things up and move stock all over the place we will be in a country wide mess whereas it is confined to a relatively small area just now. I know that the restricted zone is much larger than the area affected but that is necessary to prevent spread all over. It is likely that there will be many more outbreaks this year from August on, and they may be of increased virulence. I just hope that the vaccine is used in a useful way to defend the rest of the country.

It is far too early to assume that all is lost and we will all be getting BT soon.

Duncan

stew · Post by **stew** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 8:16 pm

about 70% of england is already in the rz so the other thirty might aswell be included
scotland is been treated as a seperate concern isnt it

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 9:02 pm

Thing is stew this is affecting us all to various degrees and we will all just have to put up with it for the greater good, or something like that.

I understand your frustration but if the zone was changed to suit your needs it would be, I am sure be equally, if not more awkward for someone else.

Farming has unfortunately never been the simple way of life it has been advertised as! :laugh:

Stephanie

Kathy Millar · Post by **Kathy Millar** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 3:58 am

Is this vaccine for sheep too? After all, sheep are the most at risk. Funny how you never hear about outbreaks in the US and yet they have BT there.

Sylvia · Post by **Sylvia** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:54 am

I notice no-one has ever suggested that because there are farms on standby because of TB reactors that everyone should be put on standby to make us all equal.