RESTOCKING AFTER FOOT-AND-MOUTH

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31576, 13 January 1968, Page 9

RESTOCKING AFTER FOOT-AND-MOUTH

As the worst outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in British history begins to abate—although the toll of slaughtered animals continues to mount—fanners face the huge problem of restocking.

D. L. Baumfield, London correspondent of “The Press,” writes that when the final count is made, it is likely that 200,000 cattle will have been killed in the National effort to stamp out the epidemic. Of these, almost half would be cows in calf and milk—or about 4 per cent of the herds in production in England and Wales. In the worst affected counties, Cheshire and Shropshire, the impact of the disaster is catastrophic. Each has lost about a quarter of its herds. The immediate economic effects of the disease are not as great as might be imagined at the national level—milk production has continued to be well above the market requirements—but for some individual farmers the epidemic has been disastrous. These are the farmers

W’hose properties are too small or unsuitable for anything else than milk production. They cannot take advantages of the offer by the Government to pay £lO an acre for grassland ploughed for other production. Inevitably, the destruction of cattle has forced up the prices farmers must pay for restocking. The levels of compensation, which are determined by local valuers, are being increased to take account of the rising replacement costs, but actual supply will be a major problem. Shortly before the outbreak good dairy cows and heifers were fetching from £lOO to £l4O a head. Now, estimates are that a good cow could fetch as much as £2OO, as farmers who have lost their herds compete for replacements.

Even at such prices, not many farmers are likely to be tempted to sell really good cows from their herds. The effect of the outbreak on farming incomes is bound to be considerable. Most farmers restarting a herd would prefer to have as high a proportion as possible of young, first calf heifers to begin with. But these do not give much milk as older cattle—so a farmer faces a reduced income for a year or two if he chooses to stick to good farming practice. Thus, the Government is now under considerable pressure from farming leaders to make special provision to help farmers in the financial problems of restocking.