Gareth Wyn Jones reacts to Sir Brian May's BBC Badger show
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- Welsh Farmer Gareth Wyn Jones @GarethWynJones interrupts his holiday in Greece to give us his reaction to the BBC2 documentary about Bovine TB and Badgers presented by Queen guitarist Sir Brian May. Even before it was aired there was concern from the likes of the Countryside Alliance, the NFU and the AHDB's top vet Sarah Tomlinson about they saw as a lack of “balance” in the story telling.
Gareth feels harm has been done and increased division, but there is now a spotlight on the incredible distress and feeling of helplessness TB brings to farming communities which he hopes will be seen by a wider audience.
@CountrysideAlliance
@AHDBDairy
@AHDBBeefandLamb
Great points.😊
Jeremy Clarksons show hi lighted the nightmare of having badgers on a dairy farms. The pressure of potential. TB
Vinnie Jones series on Discovery + was very good re badger/hedgehogs. He wanted to stock his farm with rehome hedgehogs from a refuge but was refused due to the presence of badgers.
The WHO, WEF & Govt will no doubt have a spin they’re wanting, for the general public to see.
Farmer Phil and Father Phil and family are the best in the world 🌍 got it .
Well done David & Gareth
Why does it matter that he’s a rock star,he’s also an astronomer!!!! At least he’s trying to help and do something to help everyone!!! I don’t see the governments in a hurry to help either!!!
Instead of everyone being hard headed,why don’t you try and work together and solve the problem!!!
He did bring a lot of attention to the issue!!!!!
we went down with T.B again back in June, this is now the 4th time in about 15 years........we had never had a reactor up until 15 years ago. but to be fair i don't think it is all the fault of badgers.......we have a lot more deer on the farm than badgers so i think it's more than likely to be deer in our case that brings T.B to our farm. i think the only real answer is a vaccine for cattle. but how long have we been hearing that scientists are working on producing a vaccine. i don't reckon government are putting enough money into finding a vaccine. if you remember back to when covid started they developed and rolled out a vaccine in what 9 months was it from when covid started. when we had our first T.B breakdown 15 years ago the vet's told me then there working on a vaccine..........15 years later they still haven't developed anything
The reason they don’t have a vaccine is because they can’t prove it is real,send in a FOI on the isolation of TB and has it’s been proven to cause disease and you will be surprised on the answer you will get back.
It's not badgers now, it's deer and whatever new scapegoat. Hoping to find a solution soon but hats off to Brian for trying hard and scientifically. Farmers are lucky to have a person like him on their side.
One sided science. Why did they fail to do what they were supposed to do studying the badgers and just tell the story as though it was only the inadequate testing of cattle that was the problem. The point about balance and badger overpopulation was also not made.
@@saltyc3194 Its not one sided. Science has no sides.
@@davidmacfarlane1763 That was not "Science".
Well said
Brian may 's documentary was interesting. Will the uk ever be TB free ?
I watched it last night with an open mind, and it did raise a few points, but it was one-sided purely on the side of not culling badgers. It is a lot more complex than just cleaning up the farm. TB testing is very stressful for the farmers.
"On the side of not culling the badgers"? I think you missed the point. A cow can harbour the disease and spread it throughout the heard even though the source cow exhibits no visible symptoms and skin test negative, at least that's what they said in the doc if it's to be believed. That's shocking isn't it? A heard can have repeated TB outbreaks without any need for badgers to bring it in.
It sounds as if they had already decided to ignore Gareth's honesty & knowledge & listen to a man whose skill is playing a guitar! Biased Broadcasting Corporation. Everyone who sees their bias, hypocrisy & ignorance is cancelling their TV licence. To paraphrase one of their threatening letters - are you one of them?!
I can understand your frustration about the program. Like you, I think it would be great to have a series to allow more space for every aspect of the problem. I think that the initial goal here was to show that the badger cull is not THE solution and to open the door to a reflection on the method. The format of one hour TV program has its own rules and it's up to the BBC to do more. I think it's unfair to say that Brian May is not able to talk about tBT. He's a scientist and he knows how to deal with a science problem. Finally, may I remind you of his conclusion to the farmers : let's get together and have a rethink of the problem. So I don't think he doesn't care about farmers.
make another program and put the bits in that the bbc cut
Hi, looking at the program on Badgers. Quite alot of information to take into consideration. I think the main thing is that the whole situation needs re assessing. This need to be done with farmers and vets not the government. The people who are in the know and are directly affected are the ones to be taken notice of.
Gareth was poorly treated, as always,
the media has its own view about farms and farmers and they do not wish to change
as they are lazy. The Devon farmer and attendant vet were clearly known to the Badger group and is biased. An enormous opportunity lost. Much work to be done.
May telling he is without power is ludicrous. We love you anyway Gareth
Gareth has a very good point about the overpopulation of badgers being an issue. When it comes to humans and the spread of TB, it prospered in the overcrowded poor population existing on a poor diet. If the badgers are in the same situation, overcrowded and underfed, draw your own conclusions. I hope Gareth’s opinion and knowledge reaches a wider audience. I am sorry Gareth’s opinion was edited out.
Retired gamekeeper told me he found 8 bumblebee nests scragged but badgers and hedgehog trust locally have said badgers are their biggest threat and predator
These lovely worm eaters are very smart , they eat anything and everything, hedge hogs, rabbits, eggs and young chicks. They need to be controlled. What about the poor cows and the farmers how look after them , typical B B C 🤮🤡🤬
Yes well said, I like all animals but like foxes, badgers do a lot of damage to wildlife. They will wipeout ground nesting birds unless we cull more. Believe me they are everywhere
Hi very interesting as a beef farmer myself. I live very near to a chap called Brian hill in fact I know him fairly well he kicked up a stink a few years ago and went head to head with Brian may I just wandered what you’re take on his views are.
It's a BBC program. What did we expect...?? Brian May is a brilliant musician who is fortunate enough to live in the countryside. A countryside created by generations of farmers and country folk who knew how to manage the land....Brian May should stick to what he's good at and leave the rural folk to do what they are good at....
Brian wasn't the Vet who did the scientific research.
Well said Lucan.
Farming is not a job, it is a vocation - has anybody any information on the farmer led trial in Cornwall where the badgers have been vaccinated? apparently this has been promising enough to roll out on a wider scale.
Put badgers back on the general license like they used to be, the keepers and pest controllers will do the job for nothing as they always did. And leave the management to the landowners and farmers, who know the situation on the ground and how to deal with it. Distrust the government, avoid mass media, fight the lies.
@Garethwynjones Thanks for your considered views. I do understand the bias in the BBC programme better now. However, and having read some of the peer-reviewed scientific reports also, I think there's a big difference between badgers being one vector (which I'm sure is true, if you look at the TBUK site film of badgers in cattle sheds) and the idea that culling badgers is the only/main solution. I actually don't think you think it's the only solution, either. The studies done on culling show very questionable, or no, benefits to culling. You mention good work dome in Derbyshire and a 20% reduction in TB from culling. I'd make the point that a 20% reduction actually demonstrates that culling is ineffective. If it were effective, you should be seeing 70, 80 or 90% reductions! Sorry that you had a breakdown. The bull was skin and gamma tested, and later proven clear, but what other biosecurity measures did you take *before* the breakdown, for all possible sources? Did you do, for example, the recommended blocking of badgers from farm buildings, etc, as per TBUK.
Not TBUK, I meant TBhub
As with other things of late, the testing is the issue. That is what needs addressing as it is not an open and shut case.
Whats your take on the report that came out in the ninety's of cows that contracted TB in an area where there was no Badgers,🧐
I didn't realise bruce willis had a Welsh brother
His brother is Bleddyn of Crug!
In my area we have badgers attacking back yard chicken flocks too, once they have eaten everything else. They are over populated here. I dont like killing any animal but we also have over population of foxes too and we see them running around with mange, hungry, ill, simply because there isnt enough for them to eat.
I don't understand why badgers are not put on the general licence the same as foxes are. Where they don't cause problems they'll be left alone, where a farmer needs to address a localised problem he'll be able to protect his livelihood. Simple
Farmers are saying, why did it take a "rock star" to come in and try to get rid of TB? 1st of all, Brian is a human like everyone else and you need a to approach this TB problem from another angle because all the current "experts", are NOT solving the problem.
Secondly, don't get caught up on a title of their occupation looking for a scape goat, he's a very intelligent person who's highly educated.
Thirdly, I grew up around farms and thinking now about how manure/slurry is spread on grazing fields, is an eye opener. It makes sense. It's almost like the plague and humans bucketing feces on to the streets hundreds of years ago spreading disease. Blood testing the herd is needed. I was talking to my friend tonight, he had 1 inconclusive result in his whole herd, decided to wait out. 6 weeks later, blood test back, negative result thankfully. The skin test is a joke.
Never mind brian may keep culling the badger there's far to many ,their evry where . In the 1980s there were just a few near us in Nottinghamshire but now their every where . They haven't been dug for over 50 years . The biggest killer is roads . I go walking and see hedgehog skins on the foot paths ,this is were the badgers had them . Brian may is anti control anything which is his choice. They need controlling to keep tb to a minimum.
There needs to be better testing. The problem hasn't changed in years even though 230,000 badgers have been killed.
We were TB clear in this country till the 1980s till the 1981 act.
The cull has to continue for farming to survive.
Absolutely correct, you have to be a certain age to remember when TB was just about non existent.
It's a similar play book to these actors and musicians pushing people to take the medication a few years ago.
Mr goodie was the wildlife guru but he didn't agree with the agenda and was replaced with pack ham. Look at what he said a few weeks ago.
Eee, masechuttes, look up.
Saw a vid about it last night.
It's their following and they've been an activist for years. That's why they use bm.
All wars are bankers wars. Watch.
Keep shouting it from the rooftops, if enough farmers on social media are stating the same, people will see.
😊
Spot on wildlife is being lost because of overpopulation of badger's. Think the closed herd , blaming the bull is a red herring
Wildlife has reduced due to loss of natural habitat. Farmland is not natural habitat. It’s man made to feed humans.
Not sure how controlling badgers in farmland is any different to controlling rats in restaurants. If we had a decent forrestry/environment department the job would be done and theee would be no debate!
He was talking bull shit blameing slurry no mention about deer and farmer P dexters are on woodchip n straw he uses lime as most do
Badger show 🤣🤣🤣
Just watched Tom pemberton he's got another grand for calm sheds which I take it it's tax payers money he seems to get every grant going from the tax payer
So why should he not pay inheritance tax he's building his farm on grants ??????
We all know now the T B test that has been used is a was of time . We also know that TB is spread mainly by cows slurry all better for Farmer to stop the spread of this terrible infection.
Musicians should stick to what they are good at; never getting their hands dirty...
Who's farted at 1 min 44..🤣🤣🤣
Ignore that guiter player..
Look at the end of the day Brian may don't care about the farmers in Wales he's got more money than all the farmers it cost a lot of money for farmers over all over stick to music butt
11 minutes. TB animals and the food chain..now that's relevant but completely ignored.
Gareth hates badgers, vegans, Brian may, joey Carbstrong, other wildlife, and so on. Just a hater
You're right there.🤷🙂
Please, brother, I follow you on TH-cam . Please help me find a job contract on a farm. May God bless you.🇲🇦🇭🇲🇲🇦
Impartial BBC, at it again.
I haven't studied this problem to deeply but I heard you say over population of the badge is one of the problems it seems the program was set up to put you Farmers in a bad light you guys must be smarter than that, the BBC is very good at that ,being honest in this situation isn't always the best thing,demand the same time to but your point of views across, Sir Brian May is used to the inner workings of the BBC might have been a good idea to check out the back ground off the program officials to check if there is any hidden bias, wild live is important my father and my sister were Farmers and they done alot to encourage wild life and plants,Badgers are known to carry TB so some control on their population IS required, Be abit more wary with BBC if you don't put your case over as strongly as you can you are playing into their hands, they/we need you Farmers
Good advice, but unfortunately Gareth doesn't fabricate, he gives the facts, based on a lifetime of experience passed down over many generations. I describe it as decent guy versus a spiv!
Typical that the BBC would bias an investigative programme on TB away from the badger cause. Obviously, to do this, they would cut out the evidence that the farmers would have presented. After all, they are the main observers of the interaction and balance of nature in the environment. This should have been the focus of the programme. The problem is that people without a background of country knowledge are not going to able to provide a balanced view. So to focus on wildlife groups and activists is not going to provide much use. The programme makers obviously have a position on the outcome. This is not going to be good as they are townies and unlikely to be knowledgeable.
Best thing you can do is cancel your tv license.
Shame that May and the BBC producers won't see this....
Disappointed he didn’t appear more! Mr I am!
He said contamination could also happen with dirty drinking water! Cows poo anywhere!
Animal age is the biggest cause of biodiversity loss and you blame the badger!
If a farmer had presented it, imagine the greenwashing!
Thank god that a plant based diet is gaining massively in popularity. No need for animal farming. So destructive on so many levels. Badgers aren't at fault it's ignorance and arrogance that causes most of the problems we face
Well done David & Gareth
Well done, Gareth!