Other Grants Funded From The Countryside Relief Fund

To purchase a specialist trailer to transport boer goats for meat production:

A farmer in County Durham held a smallholding breeding pedigree boer (meat) goats for sale as terminal sires. In February 2001, he had orders for billy goats for the UK market plus additional orders for the export of all surplus stock, having obtained Scrapie free status in September 2001. Due to FMD, the small holding was subject to an indefinite D notice which resulted in a complete loss of income plus an increase in costs as the animals which were unable to be sold or slaughtered had to be fed. They could still sell stock to the butcher but the licence needed required an aluminium trailer that complied with FMD regulations. County Durham Foundation gave the farmer a grant of £400 to part fund the purchase of a second hand trailer. He obtained his licence and sold the first batch of goats to a butcher in July, enabling him to help fund his hay and feed costs until he could start trading again. He was also able to retain links with customers wishing to buy breeding stock.

The grantee said of County Durham Foundation:

“We found your service excellent and cannot thank you enough for your support during what for us has been the worst six months since we started the herd. The help came at a time when we could see no way forward and has given us hope for the future”.

To purchase alternative storage and transport costs for a forestry business

A small family run forestry business was denied access to their production site and storage/holding area as both were on agricultural land with restricted access during FMD outbreak. Under normal circumstances, the yard is stocked with timber during the summer months for sale as fire wood in the winter months. The loss of saleable stock amounted to £6,500 with a further £2,000 loss each month this continued. A grant of £800 enabled the forester to obtain an alternative supply of timber, rent non-agricultural storage site and associated transport costs until FMD restrictions were lifted.

The forester said in May 2002:

"The service from County Durham Foundation was excellent, and the grant was a real life saver. Things really were drastic at the time. You could not improve your service. Recovery from FMD is still not complete, and it will take some time yet before the situation can be considered ‘back to normal’. The future does however look brighter because lessons have been learned and some safeguards have been put in place."

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