Dave's Free Press: Journal
http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/journal
violence, pornography, and rude words for the web generationen-usZ Foot and mouth
http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/journal/id/foot-and-mouth
Woo! Another farm has been found to be <a href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6930684.stm>infected with foot and mouth disease</a>. Predictably, farmers hundreds of miles away <a href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6930711.stm>are already whinging about compensation</a> and politicians are trying to spin things their way.<p>Here are a few facts about foot and mouth disease, and about farming in the UK:<p><ul> <li>The disease is only rarely fatal in animals. <li>Animals that have recovered can go on to be just as productive as if they were never infected. <li>It is almost impossible for humans to catch it. <li>Vaccines are available.</ul><p>That clearly demonstrates that the response last time was totally unnecessary and out of all proportion to the "problem" it tried to solve.<p><ul> <li>The 2001 outbreak cost the UK £8 billion, plus a great deal of aggravation for normal people who were restricted from doing normal things like going for a walk in the countryside. <li>The whole of the agriculture industry in the UK, including the arable sector, is worth only £9 billion. Livestock farming is just 45% of that.</ul><p>So, the cost of the unnecessary response to the last outbreak was equivalent to twice the yearly output of the entire livestock industry. If we assume that 10% of livestock farms were affected (which I am sure is a huge overestimate) then each one cost the nation <em>20 years worth</em> of their contribution to society. No industry is worth that level of subsidy. 2007-08-04T12:42:53Z