Ben Maguire presses DEFRA over Bluetongue losses on Cornwall farms

A summer that brought drought to Cornwall’s fields has ended with a disease outbreak on top of it, and one North Cornwall farmer has already lost 40 sheep. Now the county’s MP says ministers are finally looking at what can be done about the bill for clearing them up.

Ben Maguire, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, used a Commons exchange with the Farming Minister, Stephen Morgan MP, on Thursday 3 September to press for financial support for farmers facing what he described as crippling livestock disposal costs. Bluetongue virus has spread through herds across the constituency this summer, arriving alongside one of the driest spells in years.

“A summer from absolute hell”

Ben said the disease had hit farmers hard on top of the drought already squeezing them.

“My North Cornwall farmers have had a summer from absolute hell, with the Bluetongue disease devastating herds on top of a crushing drought,” he said. “One farmer alone told me he’s lost 40 sheep, with no vaccine available when he needed it most.

“It’s not right that on top of losing their animals, farmers are then hit with huge disposal costs. I’m glad the Minister is now looking at financial support following my challenge in the House of Commons, and I’ll be holding them to it.”

What the Minister said

In response to Ben’s challenge, the Farming Minister confirmed that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is now looking at options for financial support for farmers dealing with the fallout of the outbreak. No details of what that support might look like, or when it could be confirmed, have been set out yet.

Bluetongue is a viral disease spread by midges that affects sheep, cattle and other livestock. It does not affect humans or food safety, but it can cause serious illness and death in animals, and outbreaks have left farmers across the South West dealing with sick and dying stock at short notice this year.

A clip of the exchange between Ben Maguire and Stephen Morgan in the Commons can be viewed here.

Ben says he intends to keep pressing the Minister until a concrete support package is confirmed. For farmers already counting the cost of a brutal summer, the wait for detail continues.