A Brecon farmer's struggle

The 'bereavements' have meant heartache for farmers

Nestling in the Beacons village of Libanus which has become the epicentre of the latest test-and-cull policy, Jonathan Davies's Blaencamlais Canol Farm has so far remained free of foot-and-mouth disease.

His 320 sheep are just two miles away from the commotion which is breaking the hearts of farmers, yet are clean.

But father-of-three Mr Davies, 40, told BBC News Online the unfolding tragedy on the hills threatens to kill off a century-old way of life as well as his sixth-generation family farm...

"It is like a bereavement watching your generations of animals killed, but, even though I know these farmers well, I don't feel able to talk about it with anyone.

It is a tremendous emotional upheaval for everyone.

We could be witnessing the grand finale of farming

It is an unspoken thing in the village - it is just too hard to talk about, so I just sit here and watch the news.

It is also very unsettling to see empty fields. When the shops and tourist spots in the middle of the village are empty, you know it has had a very deep down psychological impact.

My 13-year-old son Aled ploughed his first field this year and I'd like to think that he will be doing so when he is 23 and later in life - he wants to.

My farm has been in the family for six generations and it is a huge, huge burden to think I might be the one to break the chain.

It is a huge, huge burden to think I might be the one to break the chain

Family farming could be finished altogether. I don't think most farmers will bother to re-stock; it will just be too difficult.

I couldn't envisage waking up in a village and not having livestock to look at. It's something I think about all day.

But times are changing and my eldest wants to work in the media, and I've insisted Aled find another trade if he can't make it on the farm.

Blood tests from sheep mean nervous waits

There is a huge question mark over inheriting the family farm and that is the biggest issue in all of this.

We could be witnessing the grand finale of farming.

The disease could wipe out a whole breed of sheep.

The Brecknock Cheviot sheep here were brought down from the Scottish hills in 1860 and they couldn't live anywhere else - they are so familiar with their local environment, you couldn¿t move them.

A farmer in Libanus can't even move sheep to a farm in Merthyr.

Without the hefted system, the hills would become absolutely chaos

If my sheep have to be culled, they would be impossible to re-establish and it is absolute rubbish to claim otherwise.

Without the hefted system, the hills would become absolutely chaos.

The red kite and buzzard would probably disappear because they have no meat to eat.

Before I joined the Epynt Action Group to protest at the burning of cattle on the mountain range, I had never, ever protested in my life.

The refusal to use vaccinations is horrendous. Every other country which has had foot-and-mouth disease is using vaccinations made Britain - we must be the laughing stock of the world."