MAFFtakes flak for details delays
MAFFtakes flak for details delays
MAFF is under fire for failing to publish details of the foot-and-mouth outbreak as soon as they became available.
Like last years swine fever outbreak, farmers eager for information were largely left to rely on farming websites rather than the government, according to worried FW readers.
One dairy farmer, whose farm lies within the exclusion zone thrown around a suspect farm on the Isle of Wight, told FARMERS WEEKLY that he learned of the disease outbreak from the radio. Steve Cowley of Lee Farm, Wellow, is only too familiar with foot and mouth outbreaks as a nearby farm was at the epicentre of the 1981outbreak.
"We have had no instruction from the ministry this time at all and neither did the local vet who also heard about it [the disease outbreak] from the radio.
"The vet tried to get accurate information but so far nothing ties up. Weve heard different stories from everyone weve talked to."
But the National Pig Associations Digby Scott urged farmers to bear with the government. "MAFF is running all round the country trying to find the source. Its like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Until they have that source what can they say."