The Government has hardened its resolve to press ahead with summer badger culls after figures showed that bovine TB (bTB) is "running rampant" in the South West.
More than 6,000 cattle were slaughtered across Britain in the first two months of this year after testing positive for the disease, figures published this week have revealed.
The bovine death toll is similar to 2012 – one of the worst in recent history – but the number of herds under restriction has risen by 30 per cent in a year, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.
The steep rise comes as the county show season gets under way and after it was revealed that three exhibitors had been forced to withdraw from the Devon County Show.
NFU South West spokesman Ian Johnson said the fact that "Draconian" restrictions on cattle had failed to slow the disease proved that badgers were a massive factor, particularly in the South West.
"The disease shows no sign of diminishing because there is another completely uncontrolled vector which is sharing the same pastures as cattle," he added.
"There are people in denial, who say that it is entirely due to cattle transmission and poor farming practice but this must be weighed against the situation on the ground.
"It is still running rampant despite restrictions which mean farmers are getting to the point where they are unable to trade."
Monthly statistics released on Wednesday showed there were 911 "new herd incidents" during January and February, compared with 945 in 2012.
After a big year-on-year increase in January, the February total showed national disease levels falling back in line with 2012, when 38,000 cattle were slaughtered. A total of 6,307 cattle were compulsorily slaughtered as "reactors or direct contacts" in the first two months of the year, compared with 6,349 in the same period last year.
The English statistics also show a big year-on-year rise in the number of herds under TB restriction in February 2013.
The figure of 4,532 herds compares with 3,469 under restriction in February 2012.
Farming Minister David Heath, MP for Somerton and Frome, said: "We cannot allow this to continue, so we must reduce the risk of infection from cattle and wildlife to control and eventually eradicate this terrible disease."
Trial culls in West Somerset and Gloucestershire are expected to go ahead next month.
