Farmers are shooting thousands of newly born bull calves because of a commercial ban on exports by Dutch and Belgian veal traders.

This unofficial boycott, which was imposed six weeks ago, follows the discovery of animals infected with bovine TB among British live exports.

So far, 121 infected calves from Britain have been culled on six Dutch farms and the livestock industries in the Netherlands and Belgium are unwilling to accept any more calves unless there are guarantees that the animals are clear of the disease.

British farmers fear that a meeting of animal health experts in Brussels today will result in new restrictions being imposed on them before the calf trade can be resumed. Many are already resigned to not trading with the Netherlands and Belgium until the end of the year. If there is a formal intervention from the European Commission, farmers’ leaders believe it could be years before normal trading is resumed.

Without the export market, farmers have little option but to shoot or put down their bull calves. They have also to foot the £8 bill for the disposal of each carcass.

Gwyn Jones, chairman of the National Farmers’ Union dairy board, who has a herd of 750 milking cattle at Petworth, West Sussex, expects to lose £9,000 this year from the loss of the Dutch and Belgian trade. “We are having to put down at least two and sometimes five calves a day. Normally they would go out for export and we’d get about £50 each. It is very upsetting to have them destroyed and is contrary to farmers’ instincts, which are to keep animals alive and to do the best for them. There is also the ethical and moral issue of putting down perfectly healthy animals at a time when we are faced with food shortages and higher prices. It’s madness.”

Almost 500,000 black and white dairy calves are born in Britain every year and before the dispute began the farming industry had hoped to boost their calf exports.

The timing of the boycott could not be worse for dairy farmers, especially those in the South East. Most breeding of dairy cattle takes place in the next eight weeks and under normal circumstances about 3,000 bull calves a week would be sent for export.

Scottish farmers are also upset. The Dutch ban should not affect them because of the low incidence of bovine TB in Scottish calves. The problem, however, is that it would cost too much to charter a specialist ferry to ship their animals.

The midge-born bluetongue virus, which is rampant in Northern Europe, has led to a block on trade with southern Mediterranean countries.

Mr Jones said that the Commission should stay out of the dispute. “I think if we are left to resolve matters, there is a good chance they will once again take our healthy calves.”

However, Farmers’ Weekly reported Dutch calf traders as saying that the export ban will continue for the foreseeable future.

Farmers have also been frustrated by British consumer reluctance to buy welfare-friendly rosé veal. Mr Jones said: “The problem is that veal as a word is so powerfully negative and has been demonised for so long. We need to change public perceptions.”

The trouble with beef

— The EU banned exports of British beef in March 1996, after scientists found a link between “mad-cow” disease and a variant of the human brain disease CJD

— Britain’s income from beef and veal exports fell to £15 million in 1997, from £600 million in 1995. The ban was in force for a decade

— In 2006 exports of beef and veal recovered to £100 million

— Almost 100,000 calves are now exported to the rest of Europe

— To combat bovine TB, statutory premovement testing was introduced in Scotland in 2005 and in England and Wales in 2006

Sources: Eblex; Defra; ONS

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