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I've just put these pages for April here in reverse order of date, going down to the 14th, as the main page has got too big. If (a big if) I have a spare few hours I'll sort it out to make it easier for you!
30th April
Number of premises on which animals have been or are due to be slaughtered - 6,380.
But only 7 new cases, for the 92 farms more where animals are to be slaughtered. Seven does sound quite a bit better than 92. " We understand that about 80% of the tests on SOS animals are returned negative, " from today's NFU bulletin. (SOS = Slaughter on Suspicion).
"March 23 - when Professor King issued his dire forecast that the epidemic might not peak until June, and that there could be over 4,000 outbreaks in total - was also the day on which Tony Blair finally decided that enough was enough, and took command. Within hours, so it seemed, we lurched from complacency to overkill." Anthony Gibson in the WMN. " Human health, physical and mental, have been put at risk. Farming, tourism and the rural economy are in tatters, and the Prime Minister - who not long ago was confident that the situation was under control - has recently been uncharacteristically silent" Carol trewin in the WMN.
The National News had very little today about FMD. The Independent
has copied the story from the Newcastle Chronicle. Foot and Mouth disease
has become yesterday's news. 92 farms with their animals killed is of no interest
to the general public. The politicians are certainly going to keep quiet unless
the subject is brought up. The sooner it is forgotten the better. Tony Blair
is anxious that no one points out that the death toll under his decisive leadership
is going to be so much greater than King's original forecast.
Hermia in the crush, just after being drenched. She has uneven horns, as they
grow inwards and need trimming regularly or they would grow into her head.
I am very irritated that they were trimmed unevenly last time !
I took some brilliant photos this morning, but somehow managed to delete them. They were really good! We dosed all the cows with cobalt and selenium (we have a mineral deficiency in our soil here), before putting them out in a small part of Gratna. We'll move them to slade in a day or so. Primrose and Daisy are in with the sheep in Plat. They ran into the field, kicking their heels up, and the sheep all scattered. they soon got used to each other and settled down. The cows behave like calves for a few minutes and are then too busy eating grass to be excited.
Bullocks in Slade
We've put the one year old and two year old bullocks and heifers together. They're in Slade for today. We went down to the river to check the grass in the Ham, and that's where they'll go tomorrow. It felt very dangerous going down there. It was the sort of day which I'd normally have enjoyed tremendously. I did enjoy it, I just have an uneasy feeling about it. Our neighbour has sheep down by the river. With our animals being outside now, there's not much point in ours not being down there too. We just have to hope that the sun will work its magic. We are still being careful about anyone coming into the farm, and are just hoping that no one gets too relaxed, as the danger is still very real.
It was glorious down by the river. The dogs splashed across, chasing stones that James was throwing. the violets in Underhill are not quite finished, and the bluebells are starting to flower, with that wonderful sweet, clean scent. The birds have never sung louder. They even drown out the sound of lambs crying to their mothers.
One of the piglets got out and started chasing two of the chickens up the
track. We let the chickens out today. The Maran cockerel came out very hesitantly,
and then when the hens came out, he tried to chase them back in again. I hadn't
realised how very fat the cockerels had grown after two months with only a
little pen to walk in. They can't run very fast anymore, they waddle instead.
I laughed and laughed to see the Maran chasing the Light Sussex up the track.
Chasing is rather an energetic word for the quiet but intent waddle. They
followed each other round Plat, with the lambs looking astonished, and then
raced slowly down the track again. They both looked in danger of heart attacks.
Once they stopped and had a half-hearted confrontation, both trying to leap
in the air and attack, but they couldn't lift themselves off the ground.
Tigger has stopped being cross. He hasn't grown as fat as Blackie.
29th April
Number of premises on which animals have been or are due to be slaughtered - 6,298.
It's been a lovely day. We didn't have any of the forecast rain. It's been quite cool but with the sun shining and the light absolutely glowing. We spent most of the morning moving all but 9 (ewes with mastitis or lambs needing an eye kept on them) of the ewes and lambs out to Plat. There is now the constant sound of bleating as lambs look for their mothers. Most of the mothers are very good and keep close to their lambs, but some of them seem to forget the 2nd of a pair of twins as soon as they're in the open. This evening a gang of lambs were having fun tearing around together, and jumping on and off a raised concrete cover to a disused well.
We will put Daisy and Primrose in with them, either tomorrow or the next day, when the cows go out. It does still seem crazy that the advice is not to graze sheep and cows together, when the cows show symptons before the sheep will, and if our sheep are infected they'll kill our cows anyway. At least our neighbour will have a good arguement if we do get infected, that it won't have been lurking on the farm for weeks, hidden in the sheep. In other years it has been an unalloyed delight to see the sheep out with their lambs. Now I am looking anxiously at crows and magpies and hoping they haven't come from too far afield.
Nick Brown on the BBC's 'On the Rcord' today, being interviewed by John Humphries, said "We certainly believe that the first case was the Heddon-on-the-Wall farm and we've said so and that's still the government's view. " But in the Newcastle Chronicle, Dr Stuart Renton, a vet working for MAFF, is quoted as saying "Long standing foot and mouth lesions are being found in sheep nationally, indicating the disease was probably present before the initial outbreak in Heddon. We are still getting pockets of infection in sheep which we cannot trace back to Heddon." and a MAFF spokeswoman said "We only said it was the likely source and were not pointing fingers," she said. "It is one of a number of possible sources." If nothing else, it shows how well MAFF and their Minister are communicating.
Statistics are still confusing and very suspect. According to MAFF, infected farms have only gone up by 31 since Brown made his speech, on the 26th, but 420,000 more animals have been slaughtered. Last Sunday 5,884 farms had been affected, and today "Number of premises on which animals have been or are due to be slaughtered - 6,298." a rise of 414 in a week. Almost 60 a day. Actual cases of infection are less than 10 a day. But the NFU have told us that there are several farms where sheep have been "Slaughtered on Suspicion", and they are not included in the figures of infection.
The cats are adjusting to life outside. Scratch has spent all day in the shed, looking out of the window but with the door wide open. None of them are eating as much, so I hope they are eating mice and rabbits and not birds. The hay left in the shed is piled up very strangely, as we've been careful not to disturb the robin, which is now sitting on its nest. When James went to get straw a couple of days ago, he uncovered another robin's nest, complete with eggs and had to quickly cover it again and restack the straw. He's marked where it is, so it won't get disturbed again.
Happy cats
will soon relax
now that they are sprung
Some may hide
Some will sun
All will purr
with freedom won.
(From Debby)
28th April
I'd almost finished writing today's entry, and the programme shut down without warning. I had been feeling pleased with doing it in good time and now I'm not sure if I can remember what I had written! Oh well. It's a minor irritation.
It was a lovely morning. I had been wondering how I could persuade James to let the cats out, since they would be out in a day or so anyway,when the cows and sheep go out; when he came in saying "I couldn't stand it any longer. I've let the cats out". Apparently they were very reluctant to leave their shed, hesitating for a long time in the doorway. Since then, Scratch and Mamow (2 of the feral cats) have been following me around. I have been trying to take a photo of them, but Mamow has been like one of the piglets, rushing up to me as soon as I get down to take a picture. Tigger is still cross. Blacky, who has grown rather fat, is confused but still purring. Henry made a dash for the Linhay (a dilapidated farm building ) and has stayed there.
It's been a day of sunshine and short sharp showers. The apple trees are almost blossoming. Normally this is my favourite time of year, but this year we can't relax and enjoy it. Restrictions are being lifted, but that adds to our unease. There is a real danger that complacency or sheer weariness will lead to more outbreaks. It is good to know that the sun really does help, though.
There was only one outbreak in Devon yesterday (how many farms are affected?), but test results on several farms where sheep were "Slaughtered on Suspicion" have not come back yet. Thousands of farms in Devon are still suffering under form D's. Though milk can be collected from farms with form D's, the cows cannot be AI'd. There will be a shortage of English milk in due course. The shortfall will be made up by the supermarkets buying from abroad and no one will notice. In Cumbria the devastation doesn't bear thinking of.
The piglets are growing fast. They are extraordinary little creatures, racing around, and really enjoying being scratched. They'll rub against the water troughs or the edges of the pen to scratch themselves. Gussie and Gertie don't take any notice of them at all, except to lie down, grunting happily, as they climb over each other and their mothers to suck and chew quite violently at their teats.
Gertie and pile of piglets.
27th April
Last night, when we came home, the new moon was just setting and the stars were brilliant. It's been a beautiful spring day. The air felt soft for the first time this year, that lovely softness with the smell of growing almost intoxicating. The hedges are bursting into leaf, and the bluebells and campions are just beginning. We have never had such a good crop of dandelions. One good thing about dandelions, their deep roots do bring minerals up to the surface, and they help to aerate the soil. The forcast is bad for the next couple of days so the animals are in until Monday. Then everything is out. I can't wait. It will be so good to see them all out. At the same time I'm very nervous about it. Plus the ground is still very wet and the cows will make a dreadful mess to start with.
Dandelions in Slade, looking towards the Barn.
The first of this year's calves are due in a couple of weeks. Daisy and Primrose will both be calving for the first time. They were AI'd to an Aberdeen Angus so that they would have easier calving for their first calves. We'll put them together in the orchard near the house so we can keep an eye on them more easily.
The new contiguous cull policy is now on the MAFF web site. It isn't much of a relaxation at all. Sheep will still be "taken regardless". Some cows stand more of a chance. If they're lucky. If the MAFF vet passes your "bio-security". If they were grazing in the right place on the 1st February. (Can they incubate the virus for 2 months?) David King, the powerful Chief Scientist (I am sorry to insult true scientists by calling him that) said "...If I have a farm where cattle have throughout the period of the disease been kept 200m from the boundary of an infected premises, that farm would be culled." He obviously hasn't been out into the countryside in Devon, where 200m can mean several 10ft high hedgebanks lying in between.
"Prof King also revealed that an infected farm was, on average, only likely to infect one in six of its neighbours with the virus. He said the chance of infection spreading to a neighbouring farm was 17%. The chance of it then spreading to a further neighbouring farm was just 3%....Livestock on around 4,000 farms with no sign of infection has been slaughtered...But Prof King insisted that the policy was the right one." From yesterday's WMN . Does that make any sort of sense to you?
Phoenix has been a bit of a red herring. As the Sun newspaper said today : "...it was a heaven-sent chance for Blair ....... to demonstrate his deep concern for all things bright and beautiful. Sparing the ickle moo-cow is a cynical attempt to make us all forget the complete hash the government has made of the foot-and-mouth crisis. But as far as Blair is concerned, foot-and-mouth was last week's story.....". The spinners of Downing Street hope that people won't notice that the killing is still continuing.
There have been reports of dangers to human health from the pyres of carcasses but Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, a junior Health Minister, told peers last night that medical consultants had been notified of potential public health risks from burning animal carcasses by the Public Health Laboratory Service as long ago as March 1. (from today's Guardian).
Dr Paul Kitching, whom I wrote about on the 23rd, (when he questioned the validity of the data going into the computer models that were justifying the cull), is leaving for a job in Canada next month. A Government spokesman said that of course he had been asked to stay, but this was denied by "someone extremely close to him". Did I say I felt very distrustful?
James checking a lamb
In spite of worry and tension and not being able to relax, we are feeling happy. The animals are mostly well. (There's one poorly lamb and a couple of sheep with mastitis and we've had more orff than last year - but I put that down to having them inside for so long). All the farmers I've spoken to, say that even if the worst happens they will not give up. We certainly won't. There is a strong feeling that when this is over things will have to change. And not in the way Blair seems to want, fewer, larger farms, but more viable small farms with more consumers caring where their food comes from.
26th April
"Affected premises: Number of premises on which animals have been or are due to be slaughtered - 5884". taken from MAFF's web site today.
Buttercup.
"The House will be aware that the numbers of confirmed cases continue to fall, week on week. From the highest point of 43 cases per day, on average, in the week ending 1 April, the average number of cases has fallen to 16 in the week to 22 April". Mr Brown in parliament today.
"2,136,000 animals slaughtered, of which 218,000 remain
to be disposed of.
384,000 cattle, 1,645,000 sheep, 106,000 pigs, 2000 goats slaughtered.
152,000 animals awaiting slaughter. " from MAFF's web site today. And-----(*provisional)
Daily average of animals slaughtered
For week ending Sunday 22 April - 32,000*
For week ending Sunday 15 April - 61,000
For week ending Sunday 8 April - 62,000
For week ending Sunday 1 April - 53,000
For week ending Sunday 25 March - 34,000
For week ending Sunday 18 March - 20,000
There had been 1480 infected farms, at the time today when I collected these figures
It would be interesting to compare the average number of cases for the week ending 25th March, when the figures of animals slaughtered are very similar. "The case for a vaccination programme becomes less compelling as the number of daily confirmed cases and the weight of infection in the hotspot areas continues to fall," Mr Brown added.
It is difficult not to feel optimistic even though I don't trust the politicians. The sun has been shining this morning, and we know that the virus doesn't like the sun. Brown is still talking about culling healthy animals " We will continue to kill all animals which are dangerous contacts. That will include animals on a significant number of neighbouring farms and beyond. The change does not affect the culling of pigs and sheep on so-called "contiguous premises" ". But Christopher Baldwin won his court case. The grass is growing. It's an optimistic time of year!
Professor David King, Government Chief Vet: "It would be foolhardy to let go on a policy that is working, because it may then run out of control again." Without the cull, he warns, there will be a second wave of infection, and even more carcasses on the pyres . (from the Channel 4 web site). We cannot relax properly.
We're going out tonight, a friend's birthday. It feels strange. We did go out last week. Reading through what I'd written, I realise my computer problems stopped me writing about a lovely evening last Thursday, when our daughter Mary and her husband spent a night up the road with my mother-in-law and cooked us a delicious meal. I then had a good morning out and lunch and a long talk with Mary before tackling the computer again. It felt wonderful to have a proper time out. We are gradually ventureing out into the normal world!
Our little hogg. The lamb's doing well.
With the animals going out, we won't have such good arguements to use against MAFF. The last few weeks we have felt they were more dangerous than the disease. So we will be able to let the cats and chickens out. That will be really, really good. The cats and chickens love it in the sheds with the animals but ignore them when they're in the fields.
It's a funny mixture of feelings. I still feel very distrustful of both MAFF and the disease. At the same time there is an almost desperate longing for normality. And, practically, we've got to carry on farming. Next month we should be cutting the first silage. We'll need a contractor to bale it. In June the sheep will need shearing. What are all the farmers going to do about shearing? Will the normal gangs of New Zealanders, going from farm to farm, be here this summer?
Time to go!
I tried to put this up before we went out but couldn't get a connection to freeserve. We've had a wonderful meal at a restaurant caled the Tinhay Mill. We were the only guests. They would normally be busy, but FMD has badly affected thier business. Anyone local who wants an extremely good meal followed by a choice of 50 malt whiskies, we would recommend it. If yu're not local, they do B & B. We almost forgot about FMD for a while.
25th April
"MAFF makes King Herod look compassionate"
Anthony Gibson on the local BBC News tonight.
He was speaking about MAFF's decision to go ahead and kill the calf, Phoenix. For those of you who don't know, Phoenix is a 12 day old calf that survived for five days in a pile of carcasses next to its dead mother after slaughtermen apparently missed her. Phoenix presents no risk to other livestock, as there are none nearby, but MAFF say it would go against their policy to leave her alive.
40 vets in Dumfriesshire have written to Tony Blair saying ".......we are now seeing a savage attack on what livestock remains in the north of England and the south west of Scotland...... Animals are being slaughtered without rhyme or reason......This scorched earth policy will undoubtedly result in the eradication of foot and mouth disease but it may be a pyhrric victory."
It is now in the news that MAFF are admitting that birds can spread the virus. What have they been doing all this time? There are more than 2,000,000 dead animals and they are just now doing tests on the pyres to see if they might be spreading the disease. Then the Chief Scientist was on the news too, saying with a little smile, and easy geastures.."the outbreak will continue to bump along until about mid-July to early August."
MAFF are using a different system for deciding the figures of carcasses waiting for disposal, as Anthony Gibson said " It doesn't do their credibility much good frankly...these huge lurches in figures....All sorts of funny business going on inside MAFF with the various systems that they use for collecting and publicising information". The figures are looking much better. Almost everyone I've spoken to in the last two days has said "things are improving". I've grown very cynical. I'd rather wait a while . For more about MAFF see this link to the Guardian
As I write this I'm listening to the news. Downing Street have announced that the fire break policy of the contiguous cull is to stop. It feels like a huge weight lifting. But what are the farmers feeling who have had their animals killed in the contiguous cull? Some of them will have been killed today. It's only a brief announcement, no details yet.
It's been another mixed day. Rain and sun. There was a wonderful light this evening, with piled up clouds, some black and then a great band of glowing white with pink edges. Then the new moon was brilliant. We've been talking about how we will have to start living a more normal life. We have no choice about putting the animals out in the next few days, and when we do, some of our precautions will become redundant. The lifting of the contiguous cull threat will make that move much easier. At the same time, there are still many more farms being infected in Cumbria, and we are still waiting for the results on a farm in Chudleigh. We will still barr the farm land to visitors, but we could put hurdles up at the bottom of the drive, so we could have visitors coming to the front door, maybe. It's a rather frightening thought, but we can't live in the equivalent of an air-raid shelter for ever.
Megan looking over the stable door.
24thApril
I won't write much now as I'm feeling really tired. We've had some horrible heavy rain today, and then the sun came out. We've got electric fencing up in Plat ready to put the sheep out. We'll worm them tomorrow (we get permission from the Soil Association to worm them at turn-out ) and they'll go out the next day. If it's dry.
It was brilliant news today that MAFF had withdrawn their case to kill Christopher Baldwin's cows. But he still has half of them lying dead in his yard. He broke down in front of the camera. It has been a nightmare, complete hell for him and his brother, and of course it's not over yet. More farmers are fighting this iniquituous contiguous cull. Small holders on Anglesey have won their fight to save small flocks of sheep (including one of 60 Lleyns). The NFU in Wales has called it "an unwelcome precedent" and said "There have been many farmers on the island who have had to sacrifice their livestock for the good of farmers elsewhere. We don't understand why these people should be excluded from that." I don't understand the NFU's attitude. Where is the logic in slaughtering healthy animals? The owner of the Lleyns said "The science was all wrong. They were clean, they didn't need to be culled. Maff has gone mad with its culling, it's killing everything in sight." A ministry spokesman said: "Because of the location of the sheep some considerable way from susceptible animals these sheep are unlikely to be in danger of foot and mouth and we have concluded that it is not appropriate to press for slaughter." So why were they trying to slaughter them in the first place and why are the NFU in Wales objecting? Madness.
From today's NFU bulletin: "Deflating carcasses: MAFF have changed the way they count the number of carcasses awaiting disposal. The total number of carcasses lying on farms in Devon appeared to fall by 63,000 to 99,000 overnight. This is not due to use of napalm or the work of a battalion of soldiers, but reflects a change in MAFF's definition of "animals disposed of". Previously animals were only counted as disposed of when they had been completely burnt and the fire died out. Now, carcasses that have been moved to disposal sites will be added to this list. Even discounting the new definition, MAFF are still claiming to have disposed of 25,000 sheep and 6,500 cattle in the last 24 hours. Which surprises us."
Another example of MAFF madness, incompetence. A neighbouring
farmer from over the valley has telephoned to tell me about a MAFF fact sheet
12. that he received in the post a day or so ago. It hasn't been sent to us.
It is entitled "the humane destruction of sheep", and gives permission
to a farmer to kill a sheep on welfare grounds. If the farmer is to use a
captive bolt (the proper way to do it) he must be a licensed slaughterman.
This document then says that he doesn't need a license to use "a rifle,
pistol, or shotgun". My neighbour is furious. He has been telephoning
MAFF to complain. It is totally unacceptable to try to kill a sheep with a
shotgun, and pistols are illegal. MAFF told him that the Fact sheets that
they send out to farmers are contracted out and they don't write them! They
obviously don't read them either. Maybe that's why they didn't know how to
control foot and mouth.
The piglets are growing visibly every day. Here they are trying to eat my
boots again.
23rd April
“The support of the farming community just isn’t there.” Mr Brown on vaccination.
We're still in limbo. MAFF's figures look good, down to an average of 16 cases a day, from a peak of 43. What they aren't letting us know is the number of culled farms. It must be at least 40 a day, probably more, if they are keeping to their targets. The NFU has played right into the Government's spin doctors' hands, on the question of vaccination. Blair can now pose as the saviour of the animals who is being stopped by 'wicked farmers'.
irrelevant picture of Gerttie's piglets. They're growing fast.
Dr Paul Kitching from the Institute for Animal Health at Pirbright was interviewed on Channel 4 on Saturday night. I missed it and have just come across a transcript. He questions the validity of the "very seductive graphs " that the epidemiological modellers have used. "and if there isn't good data going into a model, one has to question the value of the data coming out.............The alarming thing is how it seems to have influenced policy to such an extent."
Look on the MAFF web site. An interesting piece of information has just appeared. It's not anything that will surprise you. In fact it is blindingly obvious. It's just it's not something that MAFF seems to have considered before. "The virus can be conveyed on the feet and feathers of birds and can be excreted by them after ingestion of infected material. There is no evidence that birds can become infected - their role, if any, is as a carrier. Crows and seagulls are likely to pose a greater risk than other birds, particularly if they have access to infected carcasses."
Oh, "particularly if they have access to infected carcasses." Do you remember Mr Brown, weeks and weeks ago, saying that bodies lying on farms were unpleasant for the farmers but did not increase the risk of spreading infection? Just this afternoon a friend who farms next door to a culled farm was saying what an exceptional number of seagulls she had seen (25 miles from the coast), flying down to where they had had a fire next door and flying off with "bits of something".
I am getting bored with myself going round and round repeating the same things about mismanagement and misinformation etc. Oh just one more thing. Napalm. I can't remeber if I mentioned it on my diary, but we sent an email to the NFU on the 23rd March, quoting an article in the New Scientist. We heard Mr Meacher in parliament saying he would consider it, then later on the news he said that he 'hadn't been aware' that his department had already rejected the idea..
Back to the farm and sanity. It's been a lovely day. It feels like spring. Every day is greener. Looking at photos from last year, we already had apple blossom. Things are later this year but they're coming. You can see the fresh green on the apple trees. Friends have been telling me about seeing swallows. I haven't seen any yet. Something to look forward to.
One dairy farming friend has put her cows out. They had finished their silage. She had felt like us, very reluctant, but says that she felt better once they were out. Their milk production has gone right up now they are eating grass. We will put ours out very soon now.
We will start having visitors again in June. I must write to everyone coming this summer and let them know that they probably won't have the freedom to wander over the farm that they can usually have. Maybe it will all be over by then?
22nd April
Another ordinary day! I'd be pleased except it feels so unreal. It hasn't helped that it's been cold and very wet. It did brighten up this evening, but the rain in the morning was heavy and depressing. The only good thing was that the lambs were in under cover. Lambs don't mind the cold but they find the wet really difficult.
James has had enough, he says. He wants to wake up and find it's all over. I wish. We're both really tired of it. We want to get on with farming properly, and not feeling that certain fields are out of bounds. And I feel really bad about the cats. I do go in and talk to them but I feel too guilty to enjoy their being pleased to see me.
Tigger in happier times. June '99. I have a series of pictures of Tigger, all asleep.
So they've finaly woken up to the fact that the bonfires might be dangerous! There has been no testing of the bonfires by the Government officials, either as to human health, or to spreading the virus. There are major enviromental problems with burial too. MAFF says that " the disposal difficulties have been exaggerated", but admits there's "a problem" in Devon. There are now 175,000 bodies to be disposed of, and they aren't publishing figures for the farms they are waiting to cull. I am just hoping that it might occur to them that killing millions when there is no way of disposing of them is possibly a mistake.
There are reports today of FMD being in the deer population. A vet up in Cumbria has found a dead deer with symptons of FMD. MAFF have tested 9 deer apparently and not found it, so that's alright! The British Deer Society is recommending that the Government authorises a restricted cull in infected areas in the close season (which started last month) so that proper tests can be carried out "The results of such research would allow future policy decisions to be made based on proper scientific evidence rather than conjecture. If no infection is found, it would curtail wild speculation. It would also greatly increase confidence among farmers and the public that one potential vector for the disease could be discounted." For myself, I am desperate to know whether it is safe to use our fields down by the woods.
The cows in Slade. April '99. They should be out there next week.
I have been going through our visitors book for the Barn. A friend typed it out for me recently (it's not the same without all the drawings!). I've been going through it putting initials instead of names so I can put it on my advertising web site. It's been making me feel sad and even more unreal. I enjoy our visitors and I miss them. I get a real buzz out of seeing people arriving wound up and tense and then visibly relaxing over a week or a fortnight." Wet, windy but wonderful" was a typical comment! We have applied for planning permission to convert another building into a one bedroomed place suitable for anyone in a wheel-chair. I had been hoping to be getting quotes and going ahead with it by now, but we can't have anyone in to get quotes from. You might have gathered that I'm feeling frustrated and fed up. I just want to get on with things.
21st April
It's been too lovely a day to feel too anxious. I've been trying to pretend that everything is normal. I've even been doing some gardening. I've made a start, but the weeds have been leaping ahead, while I've been preoccupied. The smell of the earth is the smell of growing. The birds are singing more loudly every day and green is spreading over the hedges and woods. The robin in the shed gave up building his nest at the top of the stack (just as well!) and started building another nest further down. It's been another blessedly dull day.
The piglets are growing well. They are wonderful time-wasters. They aren't very good at standing still to be photographed.
At the same time, I can't really pretend. Too many people are living with rotting bodies on their farms, and waking up to silence instead of the lowing of their cows waiting to be milked. That silence must be terrible. Too many people are fighting the contiguous cull, only to have MAFF moving in to the slaughter. One farmer will have his case heard in court on Monday. Half his herd were killed last week, before he realised that he had the right of appeal. The living cows are having to walk past the dead ones lying in the yard on their way to be milked. The NFU bulletin says that it will be 16 more days before the disputed burial site near Petrockstowe is ready. then, "If all goes to plan (!), it should be operational on May 7, in 16 days time. It will be taking 8,000 carcases a day, so that even if the backlog of 174,000 carcases does not grow between now and May 7, it will not be cleared until the end of May. We regard that as totally unacceptable and will continue to press the Government to treat the situation as an emergency and do whatever needs to be done to move the vast majority of the carcases within days rather than weeks." But they are still killing healthy animals, so of course the backlog will grow. Why isn't the Environment Ministry moving in? Where are the local Government Health Inspectors? There will be carcases rotting on farms for 6 weeks.
Ben Gill wrote a letter to NFU members on the 19th, in which
he says. "The NFU has firmly supported the Government's strategy for
tackling FMD; that is the slaughter of confirmed cases within 24 hours and
the slaughter of vulnerable animals on neighbouring farms within 48 hours.
This is a tough but correct approach. And the clear evidence is that
this strategy is effective (see graph)" The graph is the MAFF one that
only shows the 'infected' farms, and not those culled, and is hence totally
misleading.
But our NFU office in the South West says in today's bulletin "The contiguous
cull will also be reviewed at a meeting of the Government's scientific advisers
on Monday. We, and the veterinary profession in Devon, remain firmly of the
opinion that only sheep and obviously exposed cattle on neighbouring farms
should be taken, with any other cattle being kept under cover and under close
examination." I would argue against the killing of all the sheep too.
Hundreds of healthy cattle have been killed, and more were killled today.
And Ben Gill, removed from it in London agrees with the slaughter even when
his officers here where the bodies are rotting do not. I wish I could pretend.
Read http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,253-115876,00.html for an article by Libby Purvis which argues against the cull far more eloquently than I can.
BaaBaa is now loose in the pen with the other ewes and lambs. We had been letting her out for longer periods each day, and shouting at Vera each time she attacked. None of the ewes is noticing BaaBaa now. All the other lambs are well.
We are longing to get them out in the field. We will have to soon.
I've been trying to find out from MAFF what the official line is on Farm holidays. Apparently there isn't one. Farms can have what visitors they want, according to the woman on the MAFF help-line. But the MAFF fact sheets are very stern about disinfecting all visitors. It doesn't make sense.
20th April
My computer's been out of action and I've been trying to reload everything onto it. It's been a useful distraction.
It was good to hear the Government' s Chief Scientist (is that an official title, I wonder?) saying on the radio last night that FMD is now fully under control, and that the backlog of carcasses was almost disposed of. The NFU bulletin last night said "The number of carcasses lying dead and rotting on farms in Devon has increased by 15,000 today to 167,000 (roughly 37,000 cattle, 128,000 sheep and 3,000 pigs). This is a disgraceful situation - heartbreaking for everyone involved and posing an ever increasing biological hazard."
My computer is now fixed, except for picture editing, but I've been sitting over it for too long. I will catch up tomorrow, and answer emails then too.
It's been a lovely bright sunny day, and I could almost pretend it was all over. I am feeling more hopeful that this will continue to be a really dull diary! (I shouldn't say that).
19th April
I've just written a couple of paragraphs on vaccination only to have my computer tell me that my programme has done something "illegal" and it's all been wiped out. I'd felt quite pleased with what I had written. Start again.
The news today has been full of vaccination and the farmers' resistance to it. I can understand the reluctance of farmers to trust the Governments change of plan, when the Scientists now in favour of it have been so vehemently against. But the NFU is playing straight into the Government spin doctors. hands. They can say that the Government is having its plans to save the animals blocked by greedy farmers, though if you look on the MAFF web site, they are not proposing more than a very limited vaccination programme; " vaccination of the cattle should minimise what could otherwise be a significant increase in the number of new cases in May, thereby reducing the number of cow carcasses requiring disposal............This is not so much to contain the spread of infection, though it will have some effect, but to protect vulnerable animals, and to help with the logistics of cull and disposal. We do not recommend a vaccination programme for sheep or rare breeds. We are neutral on vaccination of animals in zoos." All sheep and pigs in the vaccinated zone will be slaughtered and vaccinated animals will not be allowed to move out of the vaccination zone for 12 months. What is to prevent the Government changing its mind again and having all vaccinated animals slaughtered?
It is difficult to see what they mean by saying that it is " to protect vulnerable animals" and to reduce "the number of cow carcasses requiring disposal" but not to "contain the spread of infection" .
My computer has just wiped out all I was doing after this. What was I saying? Basically, that though I'm in favour of vaccination I am very anxious about the limited version that is now being proposed, especially as it would mean slaughtering so many sheep ("low value" animals). I am feeling extremely protecive of my sheep.
I have a number of documents for you to look at, which I will link from here.
The Elm Farm Vaccination document.
The Soil Association proposal.
The NFU's 50 questions.
My correspndence with Malla Hovi, Research Fellow,
Organic Livestock Research Group, Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics
Research Unit, University of Reading.
I need to sort out my computer. more tomorrow.
18th April
I had a phone call earlier this morning, from a friend who's just come back to the country. She was asking me how we were affected. I found talking to her really upsetting. On the one hand, it was lovely to hear her voice, but it made me realise even more what a truly wierd way of life we have now, and how far removed from normality. When I'm talking to someone from outside, that seems to be when I break down and cry (I'm doing it now, just thinking about it). I'm OK the rest of the time.
I've just removed all reference to a cow that was killed unnecessarily because apparently animal "rights" people might target the place concerned. Why can't they help sheep lambing in the mud? Or work for Compassion in World Farming (whose 7 point plan for agriculture makes a lot of sense)? Animal "rights" peole have been quoted as saying FMD is good as it's "saving the animals from man". I hope they have been misquoted, but a London friend, whose children have spent many happy hours on a city farm, tells me that the farm has had protestors from the animal "rights" lobby demonstrating outside it every week and the local council is now withdrawing funding.
The sheer inefficiency with the way this crisis has been handled fills me with despair, not just for farming, but for all of us. I now understand why there is so much wrong with schools, the health service, housing, everything. I have lost any trust I ever had for 'the system'.
Muckspreading (picture taken by Matt last year)
James has gone to do some muck spreading. It should have been finished weeks ago.
One of the two lambs that had watery mouth has relapsed. He's back on electrolyte solution. He's one of our bigger lambs and had seemed quite well until this morning. The ewe with bad mastitis is still not better. Otherwise they are all doing well. One of the bullocks almost pushed his way out of the back of the shed this morning. It is only corrugated iron on the back wall, so we have reinforced it. Some of you will have been guests at our daughter's wedding last June, it is back where we had the top table! (It's amazing what you can do with sheets and wild flowers).
I've just heard that Mr Shepherd, the Scottish crofter who visited his brother, has lost his court case and is having his animals culled. Mr Shepherd's actions were condemned by Jim Walker, president of the National Farmers' Union of Scotland, who branded Mr Shepherd "stupid" and said his decision to visit Cumbria "beggared belief". Why? He took all the necessary precautions according to the MAFF fact sheets. But, go to comfort a brother and have your animals killed. It's that that beggars belief.
I t doesn't make any sort of sense to me. "The countryside is open" we are told. I can have visitors staying in my Barn, apparently and they could come from a home next door to an infected farm, or walk anywhere, or just have lunch in a pub, sitting next to someone carrying the infection on his clothes. I am assuming that MAFF is telling us there is no restriction on visitors so that they are not liable for compensation. If it became known that a holiday maker in my barn had had any sort of contact with infection, would the fact that it was a holiday maker rather than a farmer, save my animals? What about my shopping trips into Launceston? Is there anyway of stopping farming families from the infected areas of Devon from shopping there? Of course not. Tesco's (I wouldn't shop there myself) aparently doesn't even have disinfectant mats out. The Highway Authority won't permit disinfectant mats on the only 3 trunk roads into Cornwall. Is this a highly infectious virus or isn't it?
There is a lot on the news today about vaccination and farmers reluctance to have their cattle vaccinated. I have been doing some more research (well, just asking questions) and I have some more information that I will put up tomorrow.
17th April
