The Welsh Assembly has agreed to fund a light lamb disposal scheme for producers affected by foot and mouth restrictions after pressure from the principality’s farming unions.

The Welsh Assembly government has set aside £6.75m for the scheme, which is expected to take in 300,000 lambs.  It will pay farmers £15 per animal for lambs under 25kg liveweight.

The initiative is voluntary and farmers with eligible stock are required to deliver the lambs to participating collection centres or abattoirs.  A further £1m has been provided to stimulate demand for Welsh lamb and beef.

The announcement follows a rally of over 500 farmers at the Royal Welsh showground, Builth Wells on Tuesday (23 October) who demanded a centrally-funded aid package.

“Union leaders have been meeting Welsh politicians at least twice a week since early August, but tonight they heard the facts delivered with passion, straight from the heart,” said Dai Davies, president of NFU Cymru.

“Our minister understands the industry’s desperate plight, and she has managed to scrape together enough money from other budgets for a welfare slaughter scheme. However, additional aid is needed urgently and it has to come from central funds.”

Gareth Vaughan, Farmers Union of Wales president, said the facts were indisputable; livestock returns had been slashed, in some cased by 50% year-on-year, as a direct result of the release of virus from a government laboratory.

“A friend was recently fined heavily for the accidental release of sheep dip and the same principle must be applied to foot-and-mouth virus,” said Mr Vaughan.

The meeting failed to agree on direct protest action, but representatives were chosen to lobby the Welsh assembly and to present the Prime Minister with an invoice for £520m to cover farmers’ consequential losses.