Piggy in the middle

The insurance industry may be asked to step in and take on animal insurance for farmers as the Government compensation scheme is proving too expensive, as Liz Booth reports

The growing number of cases of bovine TB in the UK has prompted talk of the insurance industry being asked to take on animal disease cover in place of the existing government compensation scheme.

A seminar at Warwick University last autumn highlighted the issues that would make such a move difficult for the Government and farmers and particularly for the insurance industry. Among the challenges would be the question of rapid but accurate testing, valuations, finding the source of an outbreak and