47 Healthy Cows Slaughtered - James Cossins' TB heartbreak

In the first BV Podcast of 2025, Terry and Jenny get straight on with tackling some of rural Dorset’s biggest issues. We start, as always, with Laura's Letter From The Editor, in which she provides a small voice of reassurance amid the frantic New-Year-New-You clarion calls. 

Then, as usual for Episode 1 of the month, Dorset’s political voices weigh in:

• Simon Hoare, MP for North Dorset, critiques Labour’s early missteps, discusses the potential impact of devolution on Dorset, and fiercely rebukes the Reform Party’s stance on farming.
• Ken Huggins of the Green Party champions imagination as a tool for change, urging Dorset residents to focus on solutions over anxieties.
• Gary Jackson of the Lib Dems laments the delayed social care reforms, calling for better planning and investment in Dorset’s future.

"While we may disagree on policy, we all share one essential thing—the land we live on. Let’s imagine and create the future we truly want." – Ken Huggins

The Housing Debate: Who Decides Dorset’s Future?

The latest Dorset Insider column from our anonymous Parish Councillor explores the bureaucracy and broken systems behind local planning decisions, with concerns swiftly rising about local knowledge being overlooked.

"If Dorset’s strategic councils are formed at a regional level, will local voices still be heard? Or will decision-making become detached from those it affects most?" – The Dorset Insider

Dairy Farmers vs. TB Testing: A System Under Fire

Dorset dairy farmer James Cossins shares the recent harrowing experience of TB testing when 47 seemingly healthy cows were slaughtered due to test inaccuracies. With no visible TB lesions found, James calls for urgent investment in better diagnostics and a viable vaccine.

"Sorting 47 animals onto lorries for slaughter was one of the saddest days I’ve had in my long lifetime of farming. Seeing our stock bull of eight years destroyed for nothing was gut-wrenching. The system is broken ... We’re testing and culling healthy cattle while waiting on a vaccine that’s always ‘five years away.’ It’s a waste of animals, time and taxpayer money." – James Cossins

And we finish with your Letters: 

BV readers weigh in on Dorset’s crumbling roads, the council’s neglect of Dorset's food and drink sector, and the underwhelming Christmas lights in Sturminster Newton.

Dorset’s food and drink producers should be a crown jewel, not a dusty trinket the council forgot it owns." – BM, retired farmer and cheese lover

 

These interviews were based on articles found in January’s BV, which can be read here … grab a coffee and jump in to the Dorset-ness. News, opinion, people, wildlife, art, farming, what’s on, horses … and frankly stunning photography.

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The BV is Dorset’s go-to magazine – named ‘Best Regional Publication in the UK’ (ACE Awards) and ‘Regional News Site of the Year’ (Press Gazette) in 2024. Brimming with Dorset’s people and places, it’s too good to miss!