Livestock hauliers' ni tmare scenario
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• by Miles Brignall Livestock hauliers throughout the country are in crisis as the UK struggles with the worst outbreak of foot and mouth disease since 1967.
Last Friday they parked up their vehicles following a Government order banning all livestock movements for seven days in a bid to halt the spread of the highly infectious disease.
As CM went to press, farmers and hauliers' worst fears were being realised with a total of 16 confirmed cases across the UK adding to the likelihood that the ban would be extended.
Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (MAFF) spent the weekend tracing vehicle and animal movements out of the farm in Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland which is thought to be the source of the outbreak.
Even as huge fires were lit to burn the carcasses of slaughtered animals in the North-East, further cases were confirmed at sites in Essex, Dorset, Wiltshire and Herefordshire.
MAFF says the State Veterinary Service is investigating 400 animal and vehicle movements in and out of the Essex abattoir where the first oases were spotted. However, it suspects that the disease has been active for up to three weeks, making the task of halting its transmission almost impossible.
The Freight Transport and Road Haulage Associations both plan to press for compensation for the 200 or so specialist hauliers affected by the ban. But Bob Armstrong, owner of W Armstrong, based in Longtown near Carlisle, is not hopeful: 'We didn't get it last time there was an outbreak of foot and mouth and I can't see that anything will he different this time."
Armstrong describes the outbreak as the latest in a long line of disasters but says the authorities have done the right thing in banning all movements.
"The problem we may have in the future is getting our drivers back if it goes on a long time," he adds. 'We've laid off the part-time drivers and we may find they'll do something else, and livestock won't be so appealing in the future."
But Armstrong aims to carry on operating his 20 livestock vehicles despite the crisis: "We've been doing it a long time—we won't just give it up."
Cheltenham international livestock haulier Edward Gilder fears the outbreak will lead to months of bans. "This couldn't have happened at a worse time," he says. "We've just got over swine fever and BSE and along this comes. I'd say that there will be many that will be desperate if this goes on any length of time."
Gilder, who has also laid off his seven drivers, adds: "We specialise in exports but many countries won't take animals from another country unless is has been free of foot and mouth for at least a year, so God knows how long this will last."
• The grain suppliers organisation UKASTA has appealed for a relaxation of the hours rules for drivers delivering to farms to take into account the time Myers are spending disinfecting themselves and their vehicles every time they enter or leave a farm. The National farmers Union has appealed for the ban an the carriage of disinfectant in truck cabs to be suspended.
• Irish hauliers may benefit from foot and mouth movement restrictions as Continental buyers seek to source meat supplies from the Republic. As CM went to press hauliers involved in Continental food haulage were being asked by buyers to recommend alternative suppliers in the Republic.