THE farmer at the centre of the foot and mouth outbreak in Devon Willie Cleave spoke exclusively to the Times this week about his sorrow at the loss of his animals and the bleak future that he now faced.
Mr Cleave, 44, of Burdon Farm, Highampton, who has been a livestock dealer and farmer since 1976, said it had been a traumatic time for his family to see all life on the farm 'wiped out'.
In the next couple of days he will have to witness the incineration of almost 200 cattle and 800 sheep, including his wife's pride and joy, a herd of 200 Jacob sheep.
'We took over the farm in 1982 with one calf and built it up to what it is today. Some of the cows have been with us for ten years and it is very disheartening to see them gone.'
It is believed the source of the foot and mouth outbreak on Mr Cleave's farm came from a batch of sheep he bought from a market in Cumbria on February 15.
Mr Cleave said he had found out since the sheep were originally from a farm in the area of Northumberland where the first outbreak was confirmed last week.
Foot and mouth outbreaks in Wiltshire and Hereford have been linked to the livestock dealer, who sold on animals unaware they were infected.
'I just got the wrong lot on that day — it could have happened to anyone,' he said. 'How many sheep were infected that day I just do not know.
'A lot of farmers travel to Cumbria to buy sheep — we have been forced into travelling further afield because of supermarkets driving the price of meat down all the time.'
Mr Cleave, who sells 2,000 sheep a week, said regular checks were made on his farm by MAFF vets because of TB regulations so he had nothing to hide.
'There is no way I could have hidden foot and mouth on my farm,' he said.
'The first indication I got was on Saturday afternoon when one of the cows did not look too well.
'I rang the vet who confirmed we had the disease later that day — it was a real shock.'
The farmer said he had got a lot of comfort from phone calls and letters from sympathetic people.
'It's been a difficult time and all the media attention has been focussed on us but we have had support from the community,' he said.
It could be six months before Mr Cleave can have animals back on his farm and he said he was worried how his family was going to live from now until then.
The farmer, who faces the prospect of all livestock on the 11 farms in Devon he rents also being destroyed said: 'We have had the valuations done but I have not been told when we will get any compensation. At the moment the future looks very bleak.
'Everything we had has gone and when we walk into all those empty sheds in a few days' time I think it will hit us even harder.'