Government spending on bluetongue testing fell by almost three quarters in a single year, according to figures released to Exmoor farmer and campaigner James Wright under the Freedom of Information Act.
The response from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) shows that £900,000 was spent on testing for bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) across Great Britain in the 2024/25 financial year, falling to £230,000 in 2025/26. The department said it holds no figures for the current year, and that no money is set aside in advance specifically for bluetongue, with testing instead paid for through broad contracts covering a range of diseases.
Mr Wright, who submitted the request himself and farms beef and sheep on Exmoor, said the fall came just as the disease took hold across the West Country.
"I asked a simple question. How much is being spent to protect our animals from bluetongue, and where is it going. The answer is that the spending has dropped from £900,000 to £230,000 in a single year, at the very moment the disease was taking hold across Devon and Somerset. Farmers have a right to know why the money fell as the threat rose."
The figures follow a marked change in approach. From 1 July 2025, Defra extended the bluetongue restricted zone to cover the whole of England, ending movement controls and routine pre-movement testing within the country and moving instead to a policy led by vaccination, which farmers arrange and pay for through their own vets. Defra now funds diagnostic testing for up to three affected animals where a keeper reports suspected cases, leaving the remaining cost with the farmer.
The department also confirmed it holds no regional breakdown of the spending, only national totals. Mr Wright had specifically asked for figures for the APHA South West region, the area now bearing the brunt of the outbreak.
By late August 2026, reported cases across the UK had passed 500 for the current season, with Devon alone recording more than 300 and Somerset and Cornwall among the hardest hit counties. Affected animals have suffered fever, facial swelling, lameness and loss of condition, and deaths have been recorded on farms across the region.
“Labour will say they have switched to vaccination, but it is farmers who are paying for it, for the jabs, for the vet costs of testing and for every animal they lose. Defra cannot even tell me what has been spent in the South West, because it does not count it. Our farmers and vets are carrying this outbreak on their own, and I will keep pressing until we get straight answers and real support," Mr Wright said.
Mr Wright, who writes a monthly column for Farmers Guardian and serves as Director of Policy for the Conservative Rural Forum, is calling on ministers to publish spending by region, to restore surveillance funding in the worst affected areas, and to set out clearly what help farmers in the South West can expect.
