Current - UK meat prices rise 60% as supplies run out

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Meat prices rise 60pc as supplies run out By David Brown, David Sharrock and Philip Aldrick

MEAT prices have risen by up to 60 per cent since the foot and mouth outbreak. Supplies of pork, lamb and mutton have almost ceased and panic buying is compounding the problem.

Greg Lawrence, chairman of the Smithfield Market Tenants' Association, said: "We know of only a couple of abattoirs that have lambs and the stock is very low. By Sunday or Monday they'll be out unless movement of livestock is restarted. From tomorrow, you'll be seeing imported pork. Pork, lamb and mutton prices are going up 20 per cent a day."

Ben Gill, president of the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales, said: "Meat supplies now are beginning to run low, and we need to get that meat chain running as quickly as possible, though it won't be able to restore it to normal."

Farmers and the meat industry welcomed plans by Nick Brown, the Agriculture Minister, yesterday to allow strictly-controlled movements of livestock under licence on "uninterrupted" journeys from farms to abattoirs to ease shortages. Supermarkets have told ministers that they do not want to be totally dependent on imports, while many farmers want imports stopped.

Mr Brown said that an arrangement could be in place by tomorrow. The plan is for larger farms to send stock straight to a convenient abattoir and for smaller producers to send animals to special collecting stations. They would then be gathered into larger batches to be sent on to the meat plants.

Meanwhile, police and government veterinary surgeons on both sides of the Irish border are seeking more than 200 sheep feared to be infected by the virus. Forty sheep, imported from Britain, were shot and burned at a farm at Meigh, south Armagh, Northern Ireland, close to the border with the Irish Republic.

Some had gone lame, a sign of the disease. A five-mile control area was set up around the site. The Stormont department of agriculture was trying to trace the sheep, which were bought in Carlisle market before the disease in Britain was confirmed. They were transferred to Northern Ireland certified for slaughter.

Officials believe that instead of being taken to a Northern Ireland abattoir some were kept in south Armagh. There were unconfirmed reports that farms in Monaghan, Roscommon and Wexford counties in the Irish republic were being sealed. It would be the first time that the outbreak had breached stringent restrictions imposed by the authorities in North and South.

Tom Parlon, the president of the Irish Farmers' Union, said: "It is a body blow to the north of Ireland and to the whole island of Ireland." Eight new cases were reported yesterday in England and Wales, taking the total to 26. The number of animals destroyed rose to more than 11,000, including 8,500 sheep.

Nick Brown, Minister of Agriculture, admitted that the disease was "incubating rapidly" but, due to a total movement ban imposed last week, it was "not moving rapidly".

Government veterinary surgeons believe that the disease has caught hold among "fat lambs" - those ready for slaughter for meat - but they don't believe that it has entered breeding flocks.

New cases include:

An abattoir at Great Harwood, Lancs, where 40 sheep were being destroyed.

A farm at Llangarron, Herefordshire, with 200 cattle and 1,000 sheep.

A farm at Velindre, near Beguildy, Powys, with 500 sheep and 54 cattle.

A farm at Painscastle, Clyro Llandew, Powys, with 700 sheep.

A farm at Stonesby, near Melton Mowbray, Leics, with 179 sheep.

A farm at Highampton, Devon, with 443 sheep.

A farm at North Fambridge, Essex, with 200 sheep and two pigs.

A farm at Fenny Drayton, Leics, with 220 cattle and 80 sheep.

All the outbreaks are believed to be linked.

Crufts dog show can go ahead in Birmingham next week, Government veterinary surgeons said.

-- Anonymous, March 01, 2001

Answers

Foot-and-mouth outbreak spreads to Northern Ireland

By Chris Fontaine, Associated Press, 3/1/2001 10:42

LONDON (AP) Britain and Ireland struggled Thursday to contain an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, and the first cases in Scotland were confirmed at farms near Lockerbie.

With the spread of the disease to Northern Ireland confirmed, fears mounted in the Irish Republic. Irish trainers were set to pull their horses out of a prestigious horse jump race, the Cheltenham Festival in England. The meet itself, set for March 13-15, could be called off.

Britain's biggest dog show, Crufts, has been postponed because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak, organizers announced Thursday. The Forestry Commission said it was closing all forests.

Meanwhile, continental Europe took more steps to prevent the spread of the virulent livestock ailment, which can be transmitted by humans even on their clothes or through the air. So far, no case has been confirmed on the continent.

Belgium on Thursday began the destruction of sheep and goats imported from Britain since Feb. 1, as well as domestic livestock that may have come into contact with them about 2,000 animals in all, media reported.

Portugal on Thursday ordered all people arriving from the United Kingdom to disinfect their shoes on arrival. Spain banned livestock fairs and restricted transport of animals, while the Netherlands ordered the closure of zoos and nature preserves.

In Germany, authorities said initial tests at two suspect farms in North Rhine-Westphalia had found no evidence of the disease. A third farm, in the western state of Hesse, was sealed off and disinfected Thursday after checks showed that animals from a British farm affected by the disease had been transported there.

Foot-and-mouth affects cloven-hoofed animals, causing weight loss and reduced dairy production.

Since the outbreak of the disease was confirmed last week at a slaughterhouse near London, veterinarians have identified more than two dozen cases across England. A total of 102 British farms have been sealed off or forced to take precautions, and the transport and export of livestock has been banned. A new case was identified in Cumbria, an English county bordering Scotland.

Scotland confirmed its first cases Thursday on a farm in Lockerbie and another in nearby Canonbie. Cattle from the farms will be slaughtered, the Scottish Executive said. The cases were linked to shipments from Britain before it halted livestock movement, chief veterinary officer Jim Scudamore said.

The spread of the virus to Northern Ireland was expected to dominate a Thursday meeting between prime ministers Tony Blair of Britain and Bertie Ahern of the Irish Republic.

Ahern said the outbreak was a ''huge concern'' for his country's $6 billion livestock industry. So far no cases have been found in the country.

Officials in Northern Ireland announced Wednesday the disease had been found among imported English sheep on a farm that straddles the border with the Irish Republic. The territory confirmed the cases Thursday. Sheep at a second farm were showing symptoms.

Northern Ireland banned the movement of farm animals other than for slaughter and canceled livestock auctions.

The Irish Republic set up troughs of disinfectant at border crossings, requiring travelers from Britain to wade through them before entering the country.

-- Anonymous, March 01, 2001


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