Local MS Samuel Kurtz has called on the Welsh Labour Government to urgently reconsider its position on targeted wildlife control in the fight against bovine TB, following an increase in both the number new herd breakdowns and the number of cattle slaughtered.

In the 12 months to March 2025, a record 13,174 animals were slaughtered in Wales due to bovine TB, an increase of 17.7% compared with 11,194 in the previous year. There were also 619 new incidents during the same period, a 2% increase from 607 in the prior 12 months.

In a letter to the Deputy First Minister, Mr Kurtz, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, referenced the latest data from Lincolnshire, where a five-year culling programme has seen TB prevalence in badgers fall from 24% to just 4%. Natural England has confirmed further culls will take place in ten more areas from this September.

“Farmers in Wales continue to face considerable challenges from bovine TB, particularly in long-standing hotspot regions,” the letter states. “It is therefore vital that all available tools are on the table, including evidence-based wildlife control where it can be shown to make a meaningful difference.

“While your Government has committed to eradicating bovine TB by 2041, progress remains far too slow, and confidence in the current approach is diminishing across the sector. The ongoing failure to bring this disease under control is having a serious impact on the mental health and wellbeing of farmers, their families, and the wider rural community.

“Surely now is the time to reassess the potential role of targeted wildlife control as part of a proportionate, science-led strategy to address this persistent threat.”

The intervention follows mounting frustration across Wales’ agricultural communities, particularly in long-standing TB hotspot areas like Pembrokeshire, where confidence in the Welsh Government’s eradication strategy is at an all-time low.

Mr Kurtz, who has helped push forward the Pembrokeshire Project, a science-led local initiative to tackle the disease, said it was time for the Welsh Government to take a more honest, holistic and pragmatic approach.

Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary For Rural Affairs Samuel Kurtz MS, said:

“Farmers are being pushed to the brink, financially and emotionally. The ongoing toll of bovine TB is devastating, not just for businesses, but for the mental wellbeing of entire families and communities.

“Welsh Government must be willing to look at all the evidence, including the clear impact that targeted wildlife control is having in parts of England. It cannot keep asking farmers to suffer while ruling out potentially effective tools.

Mr Kurtz also criticised the Welsh Labour Party’s 2021 manifesto, which pledged to “forbid” a badger cull, a word he described as “ideological and absolute,” showing a refusal to engage with evolving science or the real-world impact on farming families.

“To use the word ‘forbid’ in a manifesto is extraordinary. It suggests that no matter what evidence emerges, the decision is made. That’s not a science-led approach, that’s politics getting in the way of progress.”