News

Defra has today (20th) confirmed that the extension of the Bluetongue Protection Zone (PZ) to incorporate the counties of Northumberland and Cumbria will not occur prior to 1st September 2008 unless there is a change in the disease status. This extension is intended to occur in a single stage alongside the scheduled provision of further vaccine and will see the whole of England forming the PZ. Further information is available on DEFRA's website....

Further to the announcement made by the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) last week of its intention that the whole of Wales be declared as a Bluetongue Protection Zone (PZ), rather than a county by county approach as has been the case in England, WAG has now confirmed that the PZ declaration cannot be expected prior to Sunday 31st August 2008, with the exact date being subject to there being no further development in disease outbreaks and the availability of Bluetongue vaccine (vaccination may...

Defra has today (12th) announced that the export restrictions placed on UK livestock and livestock products by the Chinese government following the Foot and Mouth outbreak in the UK in August 2007 have been lifted. UK livestock products manufactured outside the exclusion window of 7th July 2007 to 7th August 2008 can now be exported to China, provided the agreed certification exists. The Defra press release containing further information can be found here....

The Bluetongue Protection Zone (PZ) is to be further extended from 00.01 on 11th August 2008 as a result of Defra reviewing the quantity of vaccine available in the supply chain. Vaccination may only take place within the PZ, and a process of extending the PZ is being implemented alongside the availability of vaccine. The PZ extension will cover the counties of Durham and Tyne and Wear (Metropolitan Boroughs of Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland) and...

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has voted today (7th August) to hold interest rates at 5.0 per cent. Further information is available on the BBC website.

Defra announced today, 5th August, that from 7th August at 00.01 the Protection Zone (PZ) will be extended to cover those parts of Shropshire (District of Oswestry), Cheshire (Districts of Vale Royal, Chester and Ellesmere Port and Neston), Greater Manchester (Manchester Distric, Metropolitan Boroughs of Wigan, Bolton, Bury, Trafford and Salford) and North Yorkshire (Districts of Richmondshire and Craven) previously in the Free Area, and all of Merseyside (including the Metropolitan Boroughs of...

Following the High Court decision on 14th July, it has been reported that Defra has appealed against the decision that the use of average market values in the tabular system implemented in England for TB compensation purposes discriminated against higher value cattle. Further information is currently available on FWi.

Due to the computer system at CAAV Central, Coleford being in the process of being upgraded, it will not be possible to place any job advertisements on the CAAV website until this Wednesday (30th July). We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause

Following the final report from Sir Don Curry's High Level Group looking into set-aside, Hilary Benn has agreed that any set-aside mitigation system cannot be implemented in the 2008/9 year. The Group's preferred option would see arable farmers maintain a small percentage of land in environmental management, with proposed new "top-up" options available under Environmental Stewardship. Further information is available on Defra's website....

Defra has announced that, following the delivery of further supplies of vaccine, the Protection Zone is to be extended from 00.01 on Monday 28th July. The extension will cover Herefordshire, the unitary authority of Telford and Wrekin and the districts in Shropshire (North Shropshire, Shrewsbury and Atcham, South Shropshire and Bridgnorth) previously in the Surveillance Zone. Further information can be found here....

It is understood that a herd of approximately twenty goats in Carmarthenshire has been culled following the discovery of bovine TB (bTB) in the herd. This is a new species for the disease and is not one that is conventionally inspected for bTB. Further information is available on Farmers Weekly Interactive. Further confirmation is awaited from Welsh Assembly....

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling MP, today announced that he is postponing the 2 pence per litre increase in fuel duty that was expected to take place on 1 October 2008. Click here for the press release.

The BBC has reported that the Government has decided against a cull of badgers in England to control TB. It is reported by the BBC that an announcement will be made on Monday. Further details are not available.

The Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Hilary Benn) has today (3rd July) issued a Written Ministerial Statement regarding the Single Payment Scheme and 2007 payments. As at 30th June, 98.7% of the total estimated fund had been paid (£1.431 billion), with "full payments" made to 103,485 (97% of 2007 SPS claimants). 30th June represents the end of the regulatory window by which time 2007 SPS payments have to be made. Payments for 2007 SPS made after this date will see...

Defra has announced that the Protection Zone, put in place due to the Avian Influenza outbreak in Oxfordshire, was lifted at 00:01 Sunday 29th June 2008, providing that no new suspect cases had been identified. Further details can be found on the Defra website.

Bluetongue vaccine has today, 27th June 2008, been released for use in South East Wales. Click here to read the Welsh Assembly Government's press release.

Defra has announced today that, following the delivery of 2 million doses of the vaccine, the Protection Zone will be extended to cover Cornwall, including the Isles of Scilly. The Welsh Assembly Government will also declare south-east Wales to be a Protection Zone. These extensions will take effect from 27th June at midday. The latest information on Bluetongue can be found on the Defra website....

Defra has confirmed that further to the delay of a batch of Bluetongue vaccine which was due to have been delivered during the week of 2nd June, Intervet's feedback on progress with this batch is positive and final testing is being carried out. As soon as the remaining checks are finalised, Defra will be making an announcement about the roll-out of vaccine. For further information, please see Defra's website. Further to the order Defra placed with Merial for a further 13 million doses (announced...

Further to the Ministerial Written Statement published on Monday (16th) in which Jonathan Shaw set out performance targets for the RPA for 2008/9, Hilary Benn as issued an amended Written Ministerial Statement which corrects Monday's Statement. In particular, the SPS 2008 payment target for 31st January 2009 has been revised from 80% by value to have been paid, to 75% by value to have been paid. To view the Written Ministerial Statement, please see Defra's website....

Defra today announced that it has ordered 13 million doses of Bluetongue serotype 8 vaccine from Merial, who expect to deliver the vaccine in regular batches over the summer. It is hoped that this will ensure that sufficient doses are available for vaccination to be rolled out across England & Wales by September. 8 million doses are for England & 5 million for Wales. The DEFRA press release can be found by clicking here....

The strain of Avian Influenza involved has been confirmed as the highly pathogenic H7N7. Please see Defra website for the latest update on the Protection and Surveillance Zones.

Defra has confirmed this afternoon (3rd June) that the intended extension to the Protection Zone this week into Cornwall and the Restricted Zone in Wales has been delayed due to further testing being required on the vaccine prior to its release. For furthre information, please see Defra's News Release.

For the full report, please click here.

Latest figures, published today, show that the total value of payments made under the 2007 Single Payment Scheme (SPS) is £1.312 billion which is 90.5% of the estimated total fund of £1.45 billion.A total of 99,437 customers have received a full SPS payment. This represents 93.2% of the estimated total claimant population of 106,700. www.rpa.gov.uk

The Bluetongue Protection Zone will be extended on the 19 May 2008, following the delivery of additional doses of Bluetongue vaccine. Please click here for more information.

Defra has confirmed that from Monday 12th May, the Bluetongue Protection Zones will be extended as a result of the delivery of further doses of the vaccine. This is due to the fact that vaccination may only take place within the Protection Zone. This will see the extension of the zones to include all of Hampshire and West Sussex. Lincolnshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire will also be incorporated within the extension of the Protection Zone. Livestock keepers within these new areas of the...

Hilary Benn, Environment Secretary, has today (30th April) announced that the first batch of one million doses of the vaccine for Bluetongue provided by Intervet is ready for distribution to the Protection Zones in England. This first batch is available as 20-dose bottles. It is expected that a further larger batch of up to two million doses (in 50-dose bottles) should be released in the next few days. Further information is available on Defra's website....

Defra has today (3rd) released details of how vaccination for Bluetongue will be rolled out across England. Further information is available on Defra's website.

A new Bluetongue Declaration has been made at 1pm today to extend Protection Zone 1 and Protection Zone 2. Please click here to view a copy of the declaration.

Declaration revoking Wild Bird restrictions in Dorset - please click here.

Please click here for the revised declaration which replaces yesterday's Declaration (with the SZ description adjusted slightly to clarify that Rochdale is included in the SZ).

The Bluetongue Protection and Surveillance Zones have been extended following additional cases in Lincolnshire & Hertfordshire, which have been confirmed as a result of pre-movement testing. Click here for more.