I WAS pleased to read in last week's Times about the pop concert which will be held in Simmons Park, Okehampton, towards the end of May. The money raised will be a shot in the arm for the whole community. Everyone in our area has suffered in some way from the foot and mouth crisis.
Tim Jones said that farmers are being compensated and I would like to comment on this.
Only farmers who have been sadly affected by, or contiguous to, foot and mouth have been compensated.
There are thousands of farmers in Devon who have been under restrictions for two and a half months and unable to sell their produce such as beef or lamb. They have in many cases had to buy in extra feed as they are unable to move their animals out of buildings or to fresh pasture.
Many lambs have died in muddy fields. Farmers' prime beef animals have gone over 30 months old and are now worth half what they were.
The overwhelming majority of dairy farmers have not been able to put any cows or heifers in calf, resulting in their breeding programme falling apart. Many farmers have a tourist business such as bed and breakfast or holiday cottages. Nearly all are empty at the moment.
I could go on. All the above will result in considerable losses as a result of foot and mouth restrictions totally beyond farmers' control. All farmers have NOT been compensated.
James McInnes
Chairman of Okehampton and Hatherleigh NFU