Thankfully, the numbers of cases of FMD both nationally and locally has been falling for the last two weeks. Sadly, we have had one case in Bradworthy, which has led to a number of farms having their animals slaughtered either as dangerous contacts or as part of the contiguous cull. My sympathies are with those farmers affected and we hope and pray that there will be no more.
Those of us who are fortunate enough not to have had a case of FMD have various problems to overcome as a result of the various restrictions. We are fortunate in that we do not have livestock stranded in the wrong place, or animals that we are unable to sell. We ran out of silage two weeks ago and were buying it from a nearby farm. Unfortunately, this farm is now with in three kilometres of an outbreak and therefore has a form D notice that among other things prevents him from moving silage of the farm. We have therefore been forced to turn the stock out on to wet ground, which is less than ideal.
The FMD restrictions mean that we are unable to take our cows along the road although we do have a licence to cross the road provided we disinfect the road before and after. I am sorry to say therefore that those of you who get so much pleasure from following our cows along the road on your way to and from work are going to be disappointed for the foreseeable future. To overcome this problem of getting the cows to and from the field we have gone to expense of putting in some new gateways and roadways which should be an improvement in the long term. We have been using the roadways for the past week and they appear to be working well.
On the 23rd April we received a telephone call from MAFF to say that they had to inspect our stock because they had traced a milk tanker movement from an infected farm to us. They told me on the phone not to worry because the movement had taken place on the 2nd April, that they would have to issue me with a form D notice which would place restrictions on us for three weeks from the 2nd of April. Having inspected the stock, they then realised that the form D which they had come to serve on us would expire at midnight. Having wasted their valuable time they were then going to my neighbour, they were then going to my neighbour for the same exercise. They told me that later that day they had instructions to visit another farm but they had to first find out from the farmer whether the animals they had to inspect had been slaughtered or not. It is very reassuring that this crisis is being dealt with with such efficiency.
Having had a wet spring last year followed by a wet summer then a wet autumn and the wettest winter on record, I was hoping we were due for a decent spring. With all our other worries, some good weather would be helpful. With a bit of luck, we will have a good summer, which will make us all feel a lot happier.