What have 10 years of ever expanding badger culls been about? Despite the UKs most eminent scientists continually stating bTB in the National herd, is not the fault of badgers & that culling will have/has had, no impact whatsoever in levels of disease & that wild & domestic vaccination, coupled with tighter regulations on the often illegal, transportation of livestock. & yet folk choose to believe an appalling person like Clarkson, rather than spend a few minutes with a unbiased scientific document. Welcome to modern Britain..
That's just not true though is it. Not even close. One of the main reasons is that the extremely narrow country lane that the farm is on isn't suitable for the large increase in traffic that his farm has brought or the even larger increase that his expansion plans will generate. A very valid reason imo.
It's on a bus router and large tractors, farming machinery and large articulated lorries can pass ( assuming the hundreds of bollards the council put there are removed,) so hardly "extremely narrow". Apparently the shop is only open limited hours anyway, nor did the council object to a campsite/ touring caravans door. The restaurant would be very small so ,again, traffic would be minimal.
Having been brought up on a farm i have total admiration for the country’s farmers. Clarkson may be a **** but he makes good viewing and some very valid points on the economics of running a farm.
I bow to your greater knowledge but it seemed to be a big issue to the farmer who lost half her dairy stock. Having a quick read t would seem vaccination of cattle is the solution but they need to approve it now there”s a test to distinguish between vaccinated cows and those with TB
Agree 100%. One of the best series on telly. Yes, he's marmite, but he shows a different side in this series and he basically allows Kaleb and Gerald to be the stars. It is real eye opener about how bloody hard it is to make a living from farming. Its done more to open people's eyes to the reality of farming than 10 years worth of Countryfile. Regardless of anyone's views on Clarkson, I'd encourage everyone to stick it on their watch list.
I agree Paul, I’ve just read deeper into it, that’s all. The randomised badger cull under Labour found very little evidence that badgers were responsible & they killed & tested ten thousand from all over the UK. Not one out of a hundred thousand under the Tories have been tested. & it was only ever supposed to be a trial of the humaneness of free shooting. There are other agendas in play, basically not wanting to share the land with an iconic protected specie. But while the badger myth still gets perpetuated, the actual cause seems less likely to be found. It’s a symptom of increasingly aggressive animal agriculture. I don’t eat meat as you know, but I don’t want to see healthy animals destroyed unnecessarily, wild or domestic.. Losing the EU subsidies has had a massive impact on farming, Did Clarkson mention that.?
Watching those episodes I could not understand the local's decision. The dark sky thing only makes sense if they plan to have the restaurant lights on all night. Presumably they will be off by 10 or 11 pm. Plenty of night for the star gazers after that. The idea that he doesn't need the money is nonsensical as the farm is a business, employing local people. That's how many businesses work. The rich buy and invest. That barrister is just some pillock who wants some notoriety by appearing on camera. Then I remember, as already pointed up in this thread, that Clarkson is a massive **** and it is indeed karma. He even rolls his eyes at the villagers on camera before he heads down to see them. People remember.
It was highlighted that, yes, thousands of subsidies were lost due to Brexit and that,in fact, is one of the main drivers behind the business diversity plan for the farm, namely the restaurant. As regards badgers almost every badger monitored in the area was testing positive for TB. The programme highlights an initiative (I have no idea if It Is national or local) where farmers who come across any fresh dead or roadkill badgers collect them and place in a special sealed bag which is then sent for Lab analysis with date, time and location. They are using the data to map the spread of TB in the area. The episode also found a huge badger set prompting a whole discussion over what could, or rather, could NOT be done to protect the herd. It Is perverse that an infected badgers has protection and yet cows have none. The dairy farmers impacted had a herd of 120 milking cows of which 60 tested positive and were slaughtered putting their whole livelihood at risk. Whilst I am not advocating wholesale culling I do find It strange that where TB is proven to be rife farmers can do nothing but hope the herd is clear. The episode where his cattle were individually tested was quite tense even for the viewer so God knows how stressful it must be for a farmers given how much each breeding animal costs to buy and raise.
So you approve of the council's decision based on personal views of Clarksons TV persona and f*ck all the local farmers who would have benefited from the plans? Perhaps you should apply for a job in the planning dept.. you would fit right in
Loving it - whatever your thoughts on him he does make some great TV shows. I enjoy his books as well and his column in The Sunday Times - I don't always agree with his views - the Megan Markle piece was appalling - but he does write some good laugh out loud pieces.
Why can't you vaccinate cows against TB? At present, the vaccination of cattle against bovine TB is forbidden under international and EU law because it is not possible to distinguish between a Bacille Calmette-Guérin- (BCG) vaccinated and TB-infected cow. Has the law now changed?
If it was a poor decision (and I don't know the detail) that's a shame. BUT if a poor decision were to be inflicted on anyone I'm glad it's him.
No I read that its going through the regulators since there is now a test that differentiates between the two
Sorry they only showed the NFU rep. She explained the process and supplied the bag. I see 'Protect the Wild' ( based in central London...hmm) have got their knickers in a twist over Clarkson wanting to gas and short badgers. Whilst he does fear badgers his comments were for effect rather than serious intenti. I believe PtW no f*ck all about pressures farmers are under and 'cherry pick'data to support their assertion that Badgers are harmless and farmers have a bloodlust and want to kill badgers for fun equating it to foxhunting. Dairy farmers have a genuine fear of badgers and it is difficult to accept the PtW assertion that Badgers do not carry or spread TB and that is only done by cows and bad farming practice. The point is not so much they cause TB in cattle but that they spread the disease infecting drinking and feeding troughs. Farmers cannot even catch badgers on their land to inoculate them for TB because you need a special licence to do so. Cattle on other hand are apparently expendable and are slaughtered at the first sign of infection.