Foot and mouth

[Hazel at the Hill]

Had a newsletter through today from a farm/farm shop (not in the affected area) which pleaded with peeps still to come and shop there.

Folk think they are doing farmers a favour by going 'nowhere near so not to spread f&m' but as long as the appropriate measures are in place, the farm shops are desperate to keep their businesses going, and that means customers though the gates!

[bubblewrap]

I'll say it again.


DEFRA = Department for the Elimination of Farm Reared Animals

[scared55]

... or Destroy the Environment anf F*** up Rural Affairs

KK

[muckdiva]

The timing of this latest outbreak interests me - just after the all clear is given. Could it be sabotage - as suggested by the Independent today?

[Headfry]

My heart goes out to ALL those affected by this.
I will support our farmers in every way I can
HF
x

[Nicos]

Bit confused......( what's new??)

I saw on the TV that the M25 runs past one of the fields.....
I thought there was an exclusion zone to prevent the spread???
Aren't 'they' worried about the passing cars??
I know they don't stop, but wildlife will be crossing that road at night and is it possible that cars can carry it outside the area??
Am I being dense here or have they put decontamination areas across the motorway??

[kernowyon]

Nicos, they aren't exclusion zones, just 'control measure zones' means that all footpaths, bridleways etc are closed to the public and access to farms controlled, they would have a real problem with the M25, this is on one of the busiest stretches, M3 and M4 join around this stretch, ten lanes of traffic, congested at the best of times would be impossible if they restricted it in any way. Nowt they can do about wildlife, moving about though.

[JennieAtkinson]

Its all causing major problems up here. Although we can move sheep within Shetland we cant move any livestock out of the islands and this is the time of year when thousands of sheep are exported south.

Apparently at the moment there is no dispensation for Shetland (or any other remote island) sheep - and given the bad weather closing in earlier than usual it is looking pretty disastrous.