CONSERVATIVE spokesman for Agriculture James Paice visited Hatherleigh as part of a tour of Devon and Cornwall last Thursday.

The MP visited the West Devon Meat abattoir, which recently lost a contract to slaughter for the over 30-month cattle scheme, where he was met by managing director Peter Bowyer.

This was followed by a meeting with a delegation from the Hatherleigh and Okehampton branch of the NFU.

Mr Paice, a farmer's son, said the main problems he was finding from farmers in the area was that the price they were getting for their products was below the cost of production and there was also valid concern about the distance from main markets and haulage costs.

He said he would be challenging the systems and abattoir inspection arrangements for the over 30-month cattle slaughter scheme — the Government's withdrawal of the contract from West Devon Meat had reduced the number of cattle slaughtered per week by more than 2,000 and left Devon without an abattoir for the scheme.

The termination of the contract resulted in the loss of ten jobs and Mr Bowyer said the future was still looking bleak for the firm although it was now slaughtering more sheep per week.

NFU representatives raised worries about foreign imports, TB and the general state of the agricultural industry.

Chairman of the branch James McInnes said there was so much cheap meat coming into the country with no control over how it was fed and reared.

Mr McInnes said: 'The minister said if the Conservatives returned to government they had a policy to stop all the cheap imports of meat coming into Britain from anywhere in the world regardless of how they are reared, both for health reasons and to help the British farmer.'

Mr McInnes said he and his fellow NFU members were all fairly cynical but felt Mr Paice understood the problems they were facing.

'From an NFU point of view I think it is most important to talk to all politicians and all political parties so they have a good idea of what is going on in agriculture,' he said.

'If you say something long enough people start to listen and hopefully act on it.'