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Most foot and mouth victims to carry on farming, new study reveals

April 05, 2002

A new study published today, Monday April 8 2002, has surprisingly revealed that almost all of the farmers in the region worst affected by Britain`s devastating foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak do not intend to leave farming - despite suffering severe financial hardship and extreme emotional distress. Some of the farmers even plan to expand their farms.

Researchers from Newcastle University`s Centre for Rural Economy interviewed a group of farmers in Cumbria, where 44% of the UK`s foot and mouth cases happened and a third of the total livestock was slaughtered. One year of FMD cost Cumbria at least £600 million in lost revenues and farms forced to cull their livestock lost an average of £50,000 in income over the year.

The report is published exactly one year after the FMD outbreak was at its height. On April 9 2001, 11 of the 18 confirmed cases of foot and mouth were at farms in Cumbria.

Some farmers even suffered a double hit, as the areas into which they had diversified for additional financial security, were largely linked to tourism. Over half - 58% - of the 67 farms surveyed had diversified activities when FMD happened.

The Northern Fells Rural Project, part of HRH The Prince of Wales` Rural Revival Initiative, commissioned the study because the project area - seven parishes in North Cumbria - was right in the middle of the FMD outbreak.

Of the sample of 67 farmers, however, only one said he would definitely turn his back on the industry. The surprising statistic contradicts popular opinion and predictions expressed in the farming press, say the researchers.   Of these farmers, 7%said they planned to expand their farms.

Most farmers also showed little interest in other ways of making money, such as growing new crops, planting forests, converting to organic farming or gaining new employment off the farm, although 13 % intended to diversify into ventures such as hiring out holiday cottages to tourists.

The researchers say these findings demonstrate the farming community`s collective resilience and a determination to carry on in the face of the most adverse circumstances. In the five years before FMD happened, agricultural incomes had been falling on a massive scale. After the outbreak, the Cumbrian farms forced to cull their livestock had an average shortfall of income for the year 2001-2 of £51,516 compared with the previous year. Farms where livestock was not culled had a shortfall of £14,147.

In addition to the financial worries, farmers and their families also suffered a great deal of emotional stress during the outbreak. Many watched helpless as every animal they owned was killed, and years of hard work died with their herds and flocks. Farms were quarantined and became no-go zones, cutting the inhabitants off from the outside world.   Those who had jobs outside the farm were unable to go to work, putting more pressure on the family purse.

The report, entitled Coping With Crisis in Cumbria: The Consequences of Foot and Mouth Disease, examined the social and economic impacts of FMD in Cumbria. Interviews with farmers, other rural businesses, households and others closely affected by the disease formed a large part of the research, as did a special case study of the Northern Fells, the area worst hit by FMD.   The research was carried out when the outbreak was starting to come to an end, between August and October 2001.

Dr Katy Bennett, one of the Newcastle University research team, said:

"The rural economy of Cumbria was fragile before the outbreak of FMD. It is heavily dependent on farming and tourism.

"It is perhaps remarkable and certainly contrary to opinion and predictions expressed generally in the farming press that 63 farmers said they would continue farming; only one would definitely cease and three were unsure."

Media coverage of FMD largely focused on Cumbria, where 92% of farms are livestock based. The county suffered for almost a year, from when the first case was confirmed in February 2001, to the day it was declared free of the disease, on New Year`s Day 2002. A third of its 0.5million cattle and 2.8million sheep was culled at a quarter of its farms.

While FMD cost the agricultural sector £200million, 40% of the total output, the tourism sector lost an estimated £400million during the year 2001-2.

Although compensation ranging from £108,000 to £163,000 was awarded to farms where the livestock had been culled, the money will be needed for re-stocking and general financial support for farmers in the 3-4 years it will take to rebuild their herds and flocks.

Dr Bennett said:

" Most farmers and their families feel that Foot and Mouth turned their lives upside down. For some it has shaken their sense of direction and self-belief and made them question their future in farming.

"Most, though, hanker for a return to what they know as normality and intend to restock. Some are highly sceptical of talk about alternatives, a scepticism reinforced by the evident vulnerability of diversified activities during the crisis.

"Others feel deeply committed to continuing in farming, if not for themselves, then for the sake of their families, even if family members are often more open to considering alternatives.

"Yet, while demoting agriculture, the FMD crisis has also revealed starkly the continuing dependency of the countryside on farming. The rural economy, however diverse, remains vulnerable to an agricultural crisis."

Dr Jim Cox, Chairman of the Northern Fells Rural Project said:

"The study, carried out during the height of the crisis, reveals the resilience of a Cumbrian farming community and its determination to maintain a traditional way of life. It also confirms the interdependence of farming, stewardship of the countryside and tourism which all need each other."

CASE STUDY:

Researchers interviewed Richard and Margaret Brough, of Hesket Newmarket, Cumbria, who suffered a double hit from the foot and mouth crisis. Richard`s farming business was forced to cull livestock, and suffered financial hardship, while Margaret`s catering business, JM Catering, lost 60% of its orders, as events and functions were cancelled during the crisis.   Both from farming families, they have worked in farming all their lives and say that a resilience and a desire to stick with `what they know best` has led to their decision to carry on farming.

Margaret, who usually employs around 40 casual staff to help out at catered functions, such as weddings, said that many events were cancelled during the foot and mouth crisis, and one of her major customers, a local hotel, was forced to close down: "We didn`t lay people off as the work is very casual - we employ waitresses and other staff to help out with functions as we need them. The thing is that we couldn`t employ as many people because the work just wasn`t there.

"Yes, the whole episode was tough, and we suffered financially, but we are through it now and all we want to do is to look to the future and be positive.

"Both my husband and I have been in farming all our lives, and so have generations before us. I`m a farmer`s daughter who married a farmer`s son.   We are very resilient and are determined to keep going. Besides - what else would we do? Farming is all we know. It`s our life."

Newcastle upon Tyne, University of