Justin King got more than he bargained for when he responded to a question at the NFU Fringe meeting at the recent Conservative Party conference, defending the badger cull.

The next day his office was inundated with complaints from Sainsbury’s customers, many vowing never to enter the store again. This has proved a wake-up call to all the major food retailers on the negative impact of being associated with this policy.

As the six-week pilot culls come to a close in Somerset and Gloucestershire, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the government has achieved less than 40% of its 5,300 badger kill target and that many of these animals were killed as a result of expensive trap and shooting operations, after the failure of free-shooting. A decision to extend the cull licences by a further three weeks, together with a declaration that the number of badgers in the zones is much lower than first thought - thus allowing them to declare it a success by killing far fewer - has further undermined public confidence in the project.

This leaves the supermarkets in the difficult position of either continuing to support a damaged policy, which might now involve the use of controversial gassing methods, or recognising the concerns of the public and opposing any further culling on scientific, economic and welfare grounds.

“Retailers can play a crucial role in finding a solution to bovine TB”

However, there is a middle way, which could not only could restore confidence in the supermarkets’ approach to animal welfare and wildlife protection, but also give farmers a much-needed boost in terms of higher prices for their meat and dairy products.

The time has come for the supermarkets to work with farmers and wildlife protection groups to develop a new ‘cattle and badger welfare scheme’ that will reduce the spread of TB in both species and develop a new premium market for British-produced meat and dairy products.

This could be achieved if the supermarkets agreed to implement a two-stage process. Firstly they would commit to providing financial support to farmers to put in place better biosecurity and greater security for cattle pens and food stores to stop the interaction of badgers and cattle. They would also work with the Wildlife Trusts to vaccinate badgers against TB on all farms in their food supply chain.

Secondly, following a successful trial of TB cattle vaccinations in the UK, the supermarkets would work with the government and the EU to reach an agreement by which UK cattle could be given a TB vaccinated status, on the basis that they are only used in the UK food supply chain and not exported.

The supermarkets have played a key role in creating the intensive cattle systems in the UK that have led to the spread of TB. Rather than sitting on the fence and risking their reputations by being associated with a failing policy that is needlessly slaughtering badgers, they can now play a crucial role in finding a long-term solution to bovine TB that protects both the future of our farmers and our wildlife.

I’m sure Justin King would find this will also go down a lot better with his customers.

Dominic Dyer is policy advisor at Care for the Wild

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Dominic Dyer