Farmers receive bluetongue funding in south west

With the Bluetongue virus outbreak continuing to place a burden on farmers, councils and charitable organisations have provided vital funding to farmers impacted both emotionally and financially.

The Royal Countryside Fund has awarded a total of £12,000 to allow farm groups to deliver targeted help to farming families dealing with the impacts of drought and bluetongue. The funding was granted to Exmoor Hill Farming Network, Farm Cornwall and the Dartmoor Hill Farm Project. The funding will go towards a range of activities, tailored to the needs of the local area.

Torridge District has unanimously to provide a one-off £10,000 grant to the Farming Community Network, to enable them to help support farmers and farming families within the area.

Cllr Nigel Keneally, commented: “Farming is at the heart of our district. As a council, we recognise the scale of the impact that farmers dealing with as they face livestock losses, increased veterinary and biosecurity costs and uncertainty beyond their control. This additional money will help to ensure that the organisation can continue to provide essential support and advice as farmers navigate this very difficult time."

Torridge District Council is also one of several councils in Devon, which has so far seen more than 1,200 cases of the virus, to call on Defra to urgently provide financial and practical support, review compensation arrangements, increase testing capacity and improve vaccine availability. It also wants DEFRA to work with farming organisations to ensure disease-control measures are proportionate and supported.

Devon County Council has written two letters to Government ministers calling for greater support for farmers, warning that many farming businesses are facing mounting pressures and growing uncertainty. In letters sent this week, the council’s Cabinet Member for Rural Affairs, Cllr Cheryl Cottle-Hunkin, has written to the Chancellor and to DEFRA ministers urging them to increase farming funding, reopen the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), and provide clearer support for farmers facing drought, disease outbreaks and rising costs. It's decision makers also backed putting £180,000 over three years into a pot to help fund assistance for Devon’s farmers, meaning a roughly £60,000 annual pot.

Meanwhile a warning has been issued against buying selling or exchanging bluetongue virus serotype 3 (BTV-3) vaccines through social media. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) says enforcement officers have received reports of animal keepers participating in this practice, and has acted to remind farmers that the sale or transfer of surplus vaccine presents significant risks to animal health. Click here to read more >