The TBAG (TB Advisory Group) is a dedicated cross-sector group with representation from all bTB risk areas in England.
Board members are nominated via the NFU鈥檚 National Livestock and Dairy Boards, the NFU bTB Steering Group and independent veterinary advisers.
Numerous board members sit on the national TB Partnership further amplifying messaging and governance to drive bTB eradication.
The group continues to develop and progress strategy with a focus on risk-based trading, surveillance and testing, wildlife control, BCG cattle vaccination and governance structures.
NFU President Tom Bradshaw continues to lead the TBAG providing consistency and momentum to progress key asks of the government.
The TBAG is supported by the NFU鈥檚 TB delivery team and legal and technical expertise from the NFU policy directorate.
Sectors and stakeholders working together
鈥淭here are few examples of where sectors and stakeholders work better than the NFU TB Advisory Group,鈥� said NFU Dairy Board chair Paul Tompkins.
鈥淲ithin this group, I am committed to representing dairy farmers across England and Wales who experience every phase of this insidious disease.
鈥淭ogether, this group has developed a bTB strategy paper which sets out how we see policy being implemented and developed to achieve our goal of eradication.
鈥淭his strategy includes retaining and, in some cases, improving the current ways in which we tackle this disease on our farms including testing regimes, biosecurity and wildlife control.鈥�
Amplifying the voice of farm vets
Sarah Tomlinson, BVM&S MRCVS, Kingshay veterinary consultant, and TB Advisory Service technical director said: 鈥淚 joined the NFU TBAG as a farm vet in Derbyshire having experienced first-hand the devastating effects of bTB on my clients.
鈥淚 was keen to build on my local involvement to help tackle the disease. At that time, I felt that vets were often not part of the bTB conversation, and the group has amplified the voice of farm vets across the country.
鈥淓veryone who sits on TBAG has a common goal of achieving bTB eradication 鈥� it is a collaborative forum where we comprehensively review all the tools available ultimately to empower farmers to do what they can.
鈥淚 am proud to contribute towards positively influencing policy change to provide tangible benefits to farmers and their businesses.鈥�
First-hand experience
NFU TBAG member Phil Allin said: 鈥淗aving been fortunate enough to see the work at Gatcombe first hand, my interest is driven partly by my position on the NFU TB Advisory Group and a similar bTB history at Gatcombe to my own farm.
鈥淚 see real potential for private testing, particularly the use of unvalidated tests. However, I would only ever see it as one tool in the fight against bTB alongside other tried and tested methods of bTB control.鈥�
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