Ulster Unionist Agriculture and Rural Development spokesperson Jo-Anne Dobson MLA has said that the Department of Agriculture has a long way to go when it comes to effectively communicating with our farmers.

Commenting Mrs Dobson said: "The current Test and Vaccinate or Remove (TVR) pilot projects in Banbridge and Castlewellan highlight the very real concerns amongst the farming community. 

"Leaving behind the valid scepticism and concern with which many farmers hold about the whole project for a moment, the Department totally failed to get it right when it came to requesting permission from farmers and landowners.

"Initially they wrote to every landowner in the catchment area to ask for permission to conduct the project on their land.

"However, farmers can be naturally suspicious of letters landing on their mat from the Department - and with very good reason!

"I understand they wrote out on several occasions, all at considerable expense and finally, some months on they are now going door to door to those farmers who have yet to provide the necessary permission!

"You really have to ask how much taxpayers money this has cost when they could quite simply have used the personal approach from the very beginning!

"Turning to the TVR project itself, many farmers have rightly raised their concerns that the Brock Stat-Pak blood test used to identify infected badgers is not reliable!

"With a 50% accuracy rate diseased badgers could be released back into the countryside to continue to pose a danger to cattle and other wildlife. 

"With each year of this project costing between £1 to £1.5 Million the real question for the Department is how can they be sure that by disturbing badger setts the project will simply not end up upsetting TB infected wildlife resulting in them moving from one area to another.

"Many questions remain for DARD who need to be careful that while saying they are trying to do the right thing they could inadvertently end up spreading TB infected animals while attempting to remove them."