Badger culling in England has finished…. for now

January 2026 saw the completion of the Intensive and Supplementary badger culls in England. This left only one remaining ‘live’ culling licence; the Low-Risk area cull in Cumbria, Area 73.

After much rumour this month, with APHA telling Cumbrian farmers ‘it is badger vaccination or nothing this year’, Defra have now stated that in Area 73 “badger culling….is not expected to resume this year“.

This is great news. We should take a moment to celebrate……… the failed badger culls are over, maybe even forever.

However, Defra’s statement includes the exasperating line: “While measures aimed at wildlife can be important tools for disease control, cattle testing and surveillance is, and always has been, the foundation of our bovine TB strategy”.

In other words, despite the huge controversy hanging over the 2025 Godfray review science update, Defra remain in denial over the uncertainty and lack of evidence around the involvement of wildlife in bovine TB, as well as the lack of evidence of a disease benefit to cattle from any badger intervention.

As long as this remains the case, the threat of culling in England remains. And farmers and politicians in Wales and across Ireland will continue to demand that bTB policy includes badger culling.

So celebrate the end of a dark time for disease control by  government vets for now, but the reality is that government staff advising those in charge have not changed their view that badgers are significant part of the problem & need some sort of intervention; culling or vaccination. The Godfray panel last September made a provision for them to be able to keep this belief alive. 

Meanwhile the NFU are stuck in Owen Paterson’s ‘all the tools in the box’ mentality, unable to move on and to follow the science and evidence. It seems that they, like so many others, are trapped in their opinions by the implications of having given the wrong advice to others over the last 13 years or longer. Personal pride before public interest. It is time to move on and engage in real solutions.