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The Rural Voice, 2001-04, Page 72GREY County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER 446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9 Email: grey@ofa.on.ca Website: www.ofa.on.ca/grey 519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551 • The Rural Voice is provided to all Grey County Farmers by the GCFA. The ravages of foot and mouth disease The foot and mouth disease that plagues the United Kingdom and Europe at the present time brings back sad memories to anyone who has experienced the devastation and heartache of any outbreak of the disease. I remember only too well the outbreak during the Winter of 1967 - 1968 in England. Sylvia and I were relatively young farmers in England at that time with a dairy herd of 40 cows and a pig unit of about 40 sows. We had a young family, the eldest four years old and the youngest just three weeks old. The first outbreak was reported in Newport in South Wales and quickly spread North into Cheshire, the heartland of England's dairy industry. This was the end of October 1967, and our cows were outside day and night. We were just getting ready to go for the cows for afternoon milking, (they were about a mile from the farm on our meadow land which they grazed on in the daytime), when the police knocked on the door and said that the area was now closed and no animals were to be moved. We asked him to go and tell the neighbours and then to come back in half an hour, so that we could at least fetch the cows home, which luckily he agreed to do. Our cows came in for milking that night and never went outside again until the following May as we had no pasture land that they could get to without crossing a road, and no animals were allowed on the road. It was a nightmare. More outbreaks were reported every day with alarming regularity. Many farms were infected and large numbers of animals were slaughtered. I remember vividly a letter in a local newspaper from a dairy farmer, who was chairman of the Cheshire Branch of the National Farmers' Union, and to the best of my recollection I quote "It is with a heavy heart that I write this today as I look out over my farm 68 THE RURAL VOICE and that of my neighbours and listen to the total silence of this once bustling farming community. The bulldozers have moved on further down the road out of sight, all gone now except for the stench of the smoke and burning flesh that hangs over the entire County." The devastation that such an outbreak can cause to the agricultural economy is perhaps difficult to comprehend if one has not been involved directly with such a calamity. One day you are tending your animals and within hours a phone call can confirm the presence of foot and mouth disease on your farm, and that "we will be along immediately to place you under quarantine." Within hours the entire life on your farm is snuffed out with one fell swoop of a humane killer. Within moments of that phone call all the hopes and dreams of your family are shattered. That year there were no family get-togethers over Christmas for fear of spreading the disease to the farms of family members or bringing it back to your own. The whole farming community was in a kind of suspended animation. There were no artificial insemination (A.I.) services. We were instructed on the method of being your own A.I. man. The semen would be left at the gate. It was imperative that we retain any cattle which were due for the barren ring, to get them in calf once again, in readiness to assist with the restocking of farms once the "all clear" came. That all clear did not come until May 1968. The farm in Newport which suffered the first outbreak was allowed to restock after the disease spread North. Ironically that very same farm was re -infested and proved to be the last outbreak of that epidemic. You may think that I am blowing a lot of hot air, and that this country is very vigilant and it won't happen here. Well I hope you are right, but remember that foot and mouth disease is no respecter of persons or livestock pedigrees. It could happen anywhere at any time and a Canadian winter would be an ideal climate for the virus to survive. NO!! This Country cannot afford to be complacent about this disease or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). The possible threat is really never far away. With today's fast road systems, and the powerful trucks capable of travelling great distances in a few short hours, infected animals could be hundreds of miles away in a matter of days. Farmers suffer. All of the allied industries suffer, and the country's economy suffers. With the slaughter policy in place vast sums are drained from government coffers. Sad to say, but maybe in such a bad scenario as this, our government would finally realize how very important the agricultural industry really is.0 — Submitted by Bob Brassington 1st Vice President and OFA Regional Director Grey East GREY COUNTY FEDERATION OF AGRICULTURE DIRECTORS' MEETING Thursday, April 26, 2001 -8:00 p.m. Grey County Agricultural Services Centre meeting room (Grey Gables) 206 Toronto Street South, Markdalo MEMBERS ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND.