A farming expert on bovine tuberculosis in badgers has been in discussion with the Badger Trust charity in an attempt to find common ground on the thorniest issue facing Westcountry farming.

The unlikely talks took place as a Government disclosure was imminent on where trial badger culls will be held in the late summer.

While the Badger Trust is naturally against the "pilot culls", with one almost certainly to take place in Devon, farmer Bryan Hill remains sceptical about the cull plans.

Having studied the problem in detail for the past 14 years, he is convinced he can identify locations of diseased badgers and their setts and that a cull of healthy badgers could be avoided.

The meetings with the Badger Trust took place in Somerset, and afterwards Mr Hill, who farms at Beaworthy, near Okehampton, said he was encouraged by the result.

"They were very positive and we now have a far better understanding," he said. "In fact there was only one real issue that divided us. I, as a farmer and countryman, want to manage the disease situation – while the badger lobby believes if you don't do anything about the badgers the situation will sort itself out."

But culling cattle and doing nothing about the diseased wildlife was the worst possible situation for the badger population, he stressed.

Mr Hill added: "Some of the Badger Trust people I met are now much more in tune with the realities farmers are facing on bovine TB.

"Whether it will change their attitude as a whole is a different matter."

He was concerned that some of them appeared to consider farmers as "the enemy", which was far from the truth. But the perception had been allowed to fester.

Mr Hill has visited 1,200 farms in the Westcountry over the years, giving advice about infected areas and setts, and he insists that a cull of exclusively diseased animals would very swiftly reduce instances of bovine TB in cattle – and would also be far more acceptable to the public.

He explained: "There are 100 considerations in an assessment, and while it's not difficult, you must get it right."

Pilot culls will take place in limited hotspot areas, with marksmen used to shoot badgers. Culls will go ahead after consultation with local people, with 70 per cent of all badgers culled from each area.