Archived News

2nd October 2007

The end of our financial year was on Sunday so Laurence has been doing a stock take. I wonder whether it's a little known fact that farmers carry out a stock-take.

Reconciliation is no small task. A record is made of everything on the farm on the last day of September including the number of cattle - 940, quantities of grain in the grain store, machinery, fuel and even acreage of crops growing in fields.

30th September 2007

Last night slaughter on suspicion of Foot and Mouth began on a farm in the north of the Protection Zone.  Today this has been confirmed as Infected Premises 8 (IP8) .  Taking account of epidemiological advice on the nature of spread of FMD in that part of the PZ, veterinary experts have concluded that a number of cattle on four premises in the vicinity of IP8 have been exposed to infection to such a degree that they are likely to develop the disease. In order to eradicate the disease as quickly as possible, the livestock on those four farms will be culled as dangerous contacts.

I feel very sorry for all the farmers who have had to endure an overnight obliteration of their life's work and will not be allowed to restock their land for six months. We cannot forget where this all began and this must make the experience doubly devastating.

The restictions imposed on us in the Surveillance Zone prevent movement of livestock and grass is running out.  After a cull has been completed, the IP is cleansed and disinfected and FMD restrictions remain in place for a minimum of 30 days. So with each new IP we go back to day zero and business becomes increasingly difficult. Back