{"id":203831,"date":"2025-06-22T00:31:22","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T00:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/203831\/"},"modified":"2025-06-22T00:31:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T00:31:22","slug":"bluetongue-control-measures-in-wales-the-pembrokeshire-herald","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/203831\/","title":{"rendered":"Bluetongue control measures in Wales \u2013 The Pembrokeshire Herald"},"content":{"rendered":"

SENEDD Members denounced the Welsh Government\u2019s response to bluetongue, with limits on moving livestock, warning the approach will cause total chaos and havoc for farmers.<\/p>\n

Samuel Kurtz, who is from a farming family, expressed deep concern about the Welsh Government\u2019s handling of the disease, saying it \u201cfalls far short of what farmers deserve\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Conservatives\u2019 economy secretary said Senedd Members received no briefing from the Deputy First Minister nor the chief veterinary office on the science behind the decision.<\/p>\n

Mr Kurtz warned: \u201cThere has been no economic impact assessment despite the far-reaching consequences for our rural community.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd perhaps most troubling of all, the decision was issued via a written\u00a0statement\u00a0<\/a>on a Thursday afternoon \u2013 just after the Senedd week had ended, ensuring no scrutiny, no questions and no answers until today.\u201d<\/p>\n

He told the Senedd: \u201cWe all understand the importance of protecting Welsh livestock from bluetongue but the measures imposed are not only excessive, they\u2019re unworkable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRequiring pre-movement testing for all live imports, even vaccinated animals, might look reasonable on paper but \u2013 in the real world of Welsh farming \u2013 it\u2019s chaos.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spoken with a farmer in mid Wales now facing a bill of at least \u00a318,000 just to bring their own sheep back from England \u2013 a field that is only five miles down the road. That cost covers testing, transport delays, logistical headaches, and that is not an isolated incident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Kurtz said already under-strain livestock markets now face collapsing confidence, with movement restrictions \u201csowing uncertainty\u201d at the height of the trading season. \u201cThis isn\u2019t protecting the industry; it\u2019s paralysing it,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n

He put the cost of vaccinating all livestock in Wales at \u00a332m \u2013 \u00a36 a cow and \u00a33 for every sheep or goat \u2013 placing a \u201cstaggering financial\u201d burden on a struggling industry.<\/p>\n

\"\"Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies<\/p>\n

During a statement on the Welsh Government\u2019s approach to bluetongue on June 17, Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said policy will be kept under regular review.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the evidence changes on the ground, we can revisit this,\u201d he said, claiming it was not feasible to conduct an economic impact assessment.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr Irranca-Davies, who is responsible for rural affairs, told Senedd Members it was a finely balanced decision taken because \u201cwe think there is a fighting chance here to hold this back\u201d.<\/p>\n

The former MP and Defra minister clarified that testing requirements will not apply for movements to and from land within a farm\u2019s combined holding.<\/p>\n

He said the Welsh Government has successfully kept bluetongue out of Wales this year but an all-England restriction zone obliged Welsh ministers to review their own approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot and will not in good conscience simply invite bluetongue into Wales,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"PlaidPlaid Cymru MS Llyr Gruffydd<\/p>\n

But\u00a0Ll\u0177r Gruffydd, Plaid Cymru\u2019s shadow rural affairs secretary, said: \u201cYou\u2019ve explained to us that part of this rationale is to buy time but I have to say: where have you been? We\u2019ve known for months and months, if not years, that bluetongue is on its way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Gruffydd added: \u201cI really fear that your decision and your policy decision this week will bring even more worry, even more disruption and even more concern in its wake.\u201d<\/p>\n

He advocated instead \u201cgetting ready for the inevitable\u201d vaccination and managing of bluetongue rather than \u201cploughing\u201d scant resources into costly testing and licensing.<\/p>\n

The politician warned: \u201cIt\u2019s going to disrupt the functionality of the whole agricultural ecosystem and that in itself could be more damaging than dealing with bluetongue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calling for clarity on plans, he asked: \u201cWill you incrementally be moving the restriction zone further into Wales or, if it does happen, will you then immediately move to an all-Wales restricted zone, which, frankly, is what I think you should\u2019ve done in the first place?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Irranca-Davies reiterated the policy will be under live review before hitting back: \u201cWhere have we been?\u2019 We\u2019ve been keeping the disease out of Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt is not inevitable, as you and Sam seem to be saying, that the disease will walk in the door. What we are trying to do is keep that door as firmly shut as we can\u2026. but it is a heightened possibility as soon as the border is snapped out to the England-Wales border.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labour\u2019s\u00a0Lesley Griffiths, a former rural affairs minister who represents the border constituency of Wrexham, echoed concerns centred on testing and lab capacity.<\/p>\n

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds said: \u201cFor farms on the border, many of which I represent, and I know others here do, there is severe concern, severe stress on farmers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mental health weight on them is already considerable, and this is another thing on top.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JaneJane Dodds MS, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SENEDD Members denounced the Welsh Government\u2019s response to bluetongue, with limits on moving livestock, warning the approach will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5010],"tags":[748,4884,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-203831","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wales","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114724201216716178","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}