No badgers culled in 2026, and a target year of 2038
What happened
On Thursday 5 November 2026, the government formally adopted a long-term plan to wipe out bovine tuberculosis in England by 2038. Bovine TB is a disease of cattle. When it is found in a herd, animals have to be removed and the farm faces movement restrictions, sometimes for months. For farming families it can be devastating, both financially and personally. The strategy was first published in June 2026 and developed with farmers, vets, scientists and others. Adopting it formally means the government is now committed to delivering it. The plan has several strands. The headline one is vaccination - for both cattle and badgers. The government will keep developing a deployable cattle vaccine, along with a skin test known as DIVA that can tell an infected animal apart from a vaccinated one. Without that test, vaccination would make routine testing unreliable. The target for deploying both is 2030. Badger vaccination will be rolled out in priority areas through a newly contracted Badger Vaccination Field Force. A government-funded scheme will collect and test dead badgers found in the wild, to build a clearer picture of where the disease is in wildlife. On testing, government-funded mandatory blood testing will be expanded, and privately funded testing will be piloted. The governance changes too. The Bovine TB Partnership for England will be replaced by a new industry-government board, expected to be set up in 2027, which will sign off the first delivery plan. Biosecurity Minister Baroness Hayman of Ullock said: "Bovine TB has devasted our farming communities, causing heartbreaking losses, uncertainty and financial hardship." She added: "No farmer should have to accept this disease as an unavoidable part of their livelihood."
Why this matters
For most people reading this, bovine TB is not a personal health worry. Milk sold in the UK is pasteurised, which kills the bacteria, and cattle are tested so that infected animals do not enter the food chain. Human cases linked to cattle are rare in this country. So why does it matter? First, because of the people it affects. Lincolnshire, where we are based, is farming country. A TB breakdown means healthy-looking animals are taken away, breeding lines built up over decades can be lost, and the farm is locked down. Farmers describe the waiting for test results as its own kind of strain. This is a mental health story as much as an animal health one. Second, because of the badger cull, which has been one of the most bitterly argued-over policies in British countryside politics for more than a decade. Farmers largely supported it as a necessary tool. Wildlife groups opposed it fiercely. The announcement confirms that no badgers were culled in 2026 - the first year in over a decade without a cull - fulfilling a manifesto pledge. That is a genuinely significant shift, and the test of it is now simple: can the disease keep falling without culling? The strategy is a bet that vaccination, better testing and tighter biosecurity can do the job instead. Third, because it costs public money. Cattle removed for TB control are compensated, testing is largely government-funded, and the programme runs for years. This is taxpayers' money with a 2038 deadline attached to it.
What the evidence actually says
The figures published alongside the strategy are encouraging, and they are worth looking at precisely. New TB herd breakdowns in England fell by about a fifth compared with the previous 12 months. Herds losing their TB-free status also fell by roughly a fifth over the past year. Herds under TB restriction at the end of June 2026 made up 3.4% of herds, down from 4.2% at the end of June 2025. That is a real fall, and it is measured the same way in both years, which makes it a fair comparison. Cattle removed for TB control - test reactors and direct contacts - totalled 20,244 in the 12 months to June 2026. That is about 4% lower than the 21,126 removed in the 12 months to June 2025. For scale, the historical peak was 34,518 cattle, recorded in the 12 months to April 2018. So the number of cattle being removed has come down by roughly 40% from that high point. Now the honest caveats. A fall over one year is not a trend. Animal disease figures move up and down for many reasons, including weather, cattle movements and how much testing is being done. One good year is good news; it is not proof the strategy works. The 2030 vaccine target is a target, not a certainty. Developing a cattle vaccine alongside a reliable DIVA skin test is genuinely difficult science, and it has been worked on for years. If it slips, a central plank of the 2038 plan slips with it. The no-cull year and the falling figures happened in the same period, but that does not tell us how they relate. Culling had been running for years before, and the effects of disease control measures play out over long timescales. Anyone claiming this proves culling was unnecessary, or that stopping it was harmless, is going further than the data allows. And 2038 is twelve years away. Long-term targets of this kind are set by governments that will not be in office to be judged on them.
Practical advice
If you farm cattle, the practical changes coming your way are expanded government-funded mandatory blood testing, a pilot of privately funded testing, and more choice in which tests you use. Your vet and APHA - the Animal and Plant Health Agency - are the people who can tell you what applies to your herd and when. Do not rely on news coverage for compliance detail. If you are in a priority area for badger vaccination, the newly contracted Badger Vaccination Field Force will be delivering it. It is worth asking your local APHA contact how your area is classified. If you find a dead badger, there is now a government-funded scheme to collect and test them. Do not handle it with bare hands. Report it through the official route rather than moving it yourself. For everyone else, the food safety position is straightforward. Pasteurised milk is safe - pasteurisation kills the bacteria that cause bovine TB. If you choose to drink raw or unpasteurised milk, understand that you are removing that protection, and that this is one of several reasons raw milk carries extra risk, particularly for children, pregnant women, older people and anyone with a weakened immune system. If you walk in the countryside, normal good practice applies: keep dogs on leads around livestock, close gates, and do not approach cattle, especially with a dog or when calves are present. And if you are a farmer struggling with the stress of a TB breakdown, please do reach out. Farming charities run confidential helplines specifically for this, and TB breakdowns are one of the most common reasons people call them. You would not be the first, and you would not be bothering anyone.
What to know
The government has formally adopted a strategy to make England free of bovine TB by 2038. It relies on cattle and badger vaccination, expanded blood testing, stronger wildlife surveillance and more choice of tests. The key numbers: new herd breakdowns down about a fifth year on year; herds under restriction down from 4.2% to 3.4%; 20,244 cattle removed in the year to June 2026, against 21,126 the year before and a peak of 34,518 in the year to April 2018. No badgers were culled in 2026, the first time in over a decade, delivering a manifesto commitment. The things to watch: whether the cattle vaccine and its DIVA companion test actually arrive by the 2030 target, whether the fall in cases holds for more than one year, and whether the new industry-government board, due in 2027, produces a credible first delivery plan. Pasteurised milk remains safe. The health risk to the public from bovine TB in the UK is low. Sources: GOV.UK / Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, 'Government bid to make England TB-free by 2038, with vaccines for cattle and badgers', 5 November 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-bid-to-make-england-tb-free-by-2038-with-vaccines-for-cattle-and-badgers | Defra, 'Bovine TB eradication strategy for England', June 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs | Animal and Plant Health Agency, bovine TB information, https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/animal-and-plant-health-agency This article is for general information. It is not legal, financial or veterinary advice, and it does not replace guidance from a qualified professional.
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