Cattle numbers being slaughter in Wales because of bTB has increased by 17%.

New government figures, covering April 2023 to March 2024, show that a total of 11,197 cattle were slaughtered due to bTB/

Overall TB herd incidence rate increased from 6.6% to 6.9%, an increase of 0.3%, while herd prevalence saw a rise of 0.1%, from 5.4% to 5.5%.

Defra and Welsh government commissioned research in 2020 on the financial impact of TB on beef and dairy farmers.

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This showed the cost of a TB breakdown directly borne by cattle farms varies significantly, with a median value of around £6600 across all farms in the survey.

Across England and Wales, median costs for herds of more than 300 cattle were around £18,600, whilst those for herds up to 50 cattle were around £1700.

Median costs for chronic breakdowns over 273 days were around £16,000.