“It’s not looking good, guys,” said the vet, reaching for his callipers, and our summer plans for the farm suddenly came tumbling down. We were going to sell 17 two‑year-old bullocks, two pedigree breeding Galloway cows and one heifer the following day, but needed to test them for TB first – a legal requirement as someone within 3km of our land had a confirmed TB outbreak.
Four days earlier, the vet had injected the cattle with two separate injections that elicit an immune response to bovine and avian tuberculin. One of our nine-month-old calves reacted to the test, so we were given paperwork about TB restrictions and effectively shut down – unable to buy or sell any breeding or store cattle.
