Foot-and-mouth fear for farmers

By Kathryn Edwards
BBC News

At the beginning of 2007, life was starting to get back to normal after years of turmoil for farmers across the West Midlands.

Empty pens are a common sight at livestock markets

Harvests looked like they would be good this year, milk prices were starting to rise and business looked profitable.

However, with the rounds of flooding many farmers faced losses of thousands of pounds.

Now cases of foot-and-mouth disease in Surrey have meant livestock movements are restricted across England.

Cattle farmers across the region said they feared the worst again after only just recovering from the last outbreak of the disease in 2001.

Paul Thomas, who farms at Risbury, Herefordshire, said the news that the disease had been found near Guildford, was a blow to the whole industry.

"Things were just starting to look up," he said.

'Doesn't like us'

"We had a bit of trade coming to us for the first time in six or seven years probably, and I just thought that it was obvious that someone up there doesn't like us."

At the height of the last outbreak in spring 2001, there were reported cases of the disease at 48 farms in Staffordshire, 43 in Herefordshire, 26 in Worcestershire, 2 in Warwickshire and 11 in Shropshire.

Farmers lost thousands of animals in the last outbreak

Country paths were closed, as were attractions such as Dudley Zoo and Castle and West Midlands Safari Park in Bewdley, Worcestershire, which were shut for about 10 weeks.

This time around, Herefordshire Council implemented its emergency plan and has been working with West Mercia Police to ensure the ban on moving livestock is enforced.

Graham Godbold, of Shropshire's trading standards, said livestock transportation was at a standstill.

"It is a matter of keeping your fingers crossed," he said.

"If there is any good news that comes out of this it's that the case in Surrey has been contained to a small area and hopefully it will stay like that."

Livestock restrictions were also put in place at the Oswestry Show in Shropshire and the Canwell Show, near Lichfield in Staffordshire, has banned farm animals from the event on Saturday.

'Horrendous events'

Organisers at Leek Livestock Market in Staffordshire said they expected to lose about £100,000 on Tuesday because they could not trade, and did not expect to reopen for at least a month.

John Hammon, who has a farm near Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, said he had livestock that needed to be moved.

"Rugby Market has suffered in the past with BSE and the last foot-and-mouth outbreak," he said.

"We had no income whatsoever then when it was closed - and now we're looking at the same thing."

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious viral disease

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious viral disease that affects cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and other domestic and wild cloven-hoofed animals.

Guidelines from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) show that the signs of the disease are a fever, followed by the development of blisters, mainly in the mouth and on the feet.

Andrew Richards, senior policy advisor for the National Farmers' Union (NFU), said farmers were being hit badly even if their farms were not infected.

"It is a horrendous sequence of events," he said.

"Farmers have had to contend with flooding and now this. The whole industry has come to a stop.

"We are fortunate not to have had any incidents yet in this area, but we have farmers who can't sell their animals or take them to slaughterhouses."