In this lesson we will discuss some biological factors farmers face when running their farms including increasing crop yield, increasing meat production and a very large issue that cattle farmers face these days: Bovine tuberculosis (TB).

 

Crop Yield

Farmers need to be able to produce as many as the best crops as possible. To do this sometimes growing in an open field isn’t the easiest way to do this as we cannot control the weather. However, a farmer can use a greenhouse in which artificial heating and lighting can be used, and the level of water and carbon dioxide the plant receives can be controlled. The farmer must weigh out the costs of providing the artificial conditions against the extra income it will provide over time. Polytunnels can also be used to cover large areas of crops to protect them from the weather such as rain or extreme temperatures.

 

Meat Production

Farmers also breed and sell animals for food, so they want to be able to produce the most animals they can to sell. With the fast growing population of the world it is important that farmers are able to produce as much food as they can. To meet this need, intensive farming methods are sometimes used. Farmers using intensive farming methods will control the feeding of livestock, space, temperature, predators and disease.

It is important that farmers remember to treat intensively farmed animals humanely and there are laws in place to make sure they do. One example of a farming practice that has been used in the past to increase yields is battery farming. This was commonly used with hens for egg production where many hens would be crammed into a small space. This would maximise egg production and decrease space needed, however this has proved unhealthy for hens and legislation has been introduced to regulate these farms to make sure hens are provided with suitable living conditions.

 

Bovine Tuberculosis

A big issue farmers are facing at the moment is TB in cattle (Bovine TB). This is a disease caused by a bacteria called Mycobacterium bovis which can also infect and cause TB in badgers, deer, dogs, cats, alpacas and many more creatures. When cattle are infected with TB, farmers are not allowed to sell or transport them, they are only allowed to take them off the farm if they are going to a place to be slaughtered. This is a large issue for farmers as it would cut off some of their income and they would not be able to afford to run their farm and care for their cattle.

 

An animal can contract the disease by breathing in the bacteria. When animals are close to animals who have TB it is easy for them to also contract TB by breathing in the bacteria. Once the disease is diagnosed the infected animal must be killed. The animal is left with scars in the lungs that affect the health of the animal and subsequently the quality of the meat produced, and the cost of curing a cow is greater than it is worth to a farmer. Also, government legislation states infected cattle must be euthanized as it is easily spread to other areas.

 

Recently it has become believed that badgers can contribute to the spreading of the disease to cattle. TB is spread between cattle and badgers via inhalation of the bacteria, from the badger’s saliva if they drink from a cow’s drinking source, and the bacteria is spread to cows when they graze in fields where there is a badger latrine site.

 

Preventing the disease through vaccination is difficult. There is no legal vaccine that can vaccinate cows against TB and the only vaccine available to vaccinate badgers needs to be injected to every badger annually for five years, which is very costly, difficult and time consuming. There has not been enough research and data collected to prove that this vaccine is efficient. Research is being continued to find vaccination methods that work for both cows and badgers but at the moment it is still difficult.

 

The other option of control is to cull badgers. However some studies show that in areas where badger culls have been carried out there is little effect on the presence of TB in cattle. A problem is that the cattle themselves can be responsible for spreading TB to other cattle. If the cattle are not tested well enough, TB may go undeceted and is spread around when cattle are moved around. Another issue is that when the badgers are being culled it may cause other badgers in the area to move away and spread the TB to more areas, and different badgers could move in to the area where badgers have been culled. It can be argued that TB from cattle poses a very low risk to our health these days and so culling badgers is unnecessary. Badgers are not the only animals that can carry and spread TB, some say that the fallow deer in South-West England are also largely responsible for spreading TB, however more research needs be done and data collected to prove this.