Pressure mounts for animal farmers

Neil Smith who has 130 beef cattle at Nutbrown Farm in Hooe said:

"It was a dreadful shock. It is upsetting for those who have got it but there are repercussions right down the line.

"It is affecting all of us already."

Farmers are now under a standstill order brought in rapidly by the Government in response to the crisis and there is to be no movement of livestock until further notice.

Neil said: "No cattle, sheep or pigs are allowed to be moved anywhere in Britain - there are no markets, no slaughtering, nothing. Everything has stopped."

He believes farmers with animals ready for slaughter will face financial losses because the animals will become too old to meet legal requirements.

Neil said: "Animals for beef have to be slaughtered before they are 30 months old. If they are not, they go from prime beef to manufacturing beef and the price goes down a lot straightaway.

"I have cattle at 28 and a half months now, so they have five or six weeks before they have to be slaughtered - or the price falls when they go from prime beef to manufacturing beef at the magical figure of 30 months."

He feels there is now pressure on farmers who will lose out if they have to hold on to their cattle and hopes they will be allowed to take animals to directly to slaughter.

"If the standing order stays for weeks and weeks it could be a big problem - unless they allow cattle to go straight to abbattoirs for slaughter, which I hope they will do - I can't see a problem with that."

Anne and Peter Bourner of New Barn Farm, also in Hooe, said; "The news has knocked us for six."

They felt however that the situation was being dealt with quickly and effectively in comparison with the response to the crisis in 2001.

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