This clip from our documentary shows us asking the question “Could the slurry in this pot [pit] have any relevance in the spread of bovine TB in the cattle herd ? Incredibly, at the time nobody could tell us the answer – even though the entire Dairy farm industry was worried about the tiny defecations of badgers way over in the bushes, in the carefully designated latrines that these fastidious badger families use.
Well, by using a new ‘enhanced’ testing technique – PCR – we found our answer as you see here. COMPLETELY SHOCKING.
It was our first strong clue that all talk of badgers being the cause of TB getting out of control in cattle had been nonsense from the start. And that was just the beginning.
The full documentary film is available NOW on BBC iPlayer. It’s had a 100,000 views in the last 3 days. If you’re a farmer and think this is a load of old tosh please watch it just once – and see if it rings any bells.
Please remember that it’s a journey shared by a TEAM – one dairy farmer, one farm vet, one wildlife expert and myself, a curious and doggedly persistent scientist. There can be no bias in the programme because all ‘sides’ are represented in our team.
Cheers all
– Bri