Beyond foot and mouth still lies the threat of devastation for farmers, warns ROB SIMPSON, of the Yorkshire and North East National Farmers Union

TWO months after the last outbreak of foot-and-mouth on a farm, the rural community is still holding its breath and praying that we have seen the last of this devastating disease.

But as the threat diminishes every day, the farming industry is waking up to the fact that the economic situation remains desperate.

While livestock farmers have been the focus of cameras, microphones and reporters' pads for much of the year, the arable sector has been in quiet meltdown.

Accountants Deloitte & Touche revealed in a recent report that their farming clients took home an income of £2,500 last year - less than £50-a-week to feed and clothe their families, pay for new machinery and invest in the farm!

It means the typical farmer who works 70 hours-a-week will earn just 70p-an-hour.

Can we really expect farmers to continue producing the nation's food for a sixth of the minimum wage? Many producers are not surprisingly left scratching their heads and wondering why they continue farming when the rewards are so pitiful.

Last year's floods will no doubt be receding in the memories of many readers, but arable farmers have recently harvested the consequences of the incessant rainfall last autumn and winter.

Their crop yields have been down by a third. Instead of producing 17million tonnes of wheat, as they did last year, UK farmers harvested only 12million tonnes this year.

That loss of production, combined with the depressed crop prices, and the extra costs of fuel and inputs, will make for another belt-tightening year ahead.

Almost a fifth of the workforce has left the industry in the last two years, there is no new investment, and no young farmers are coming into the industry. The arable industry is grinding to a halt.

UK farmers are expected to maintain hedgerows and maintain the countryside - which they are happy to do - but they are also expected to produce food at the same price as countries with no such environmental obligations. How can they produce food at the same price as farmers in countries with lower standards? The answer, quite simply, is that they can not.

UK farmers are also receiving substantially lower returns than their European counterparts.

Farmers on the continent have the financial safety net of the Common Agricultural Policy - the financial support mechanism for food production. But the UK Government has prevented EU funds from ever reaching UK farmers.

The Government refused to apply for agrimoney aid for arable farmers at the end of last month, dealing a cruel blow to thousands of farmers.

The recent decision was not only a financial loss to them and their families, but it will also sap their confidence in the Government's commitment to British farming.

Around £57 million was available this year from the European Commission and the UK Government to compensate farmers for the devastating impact of the strength of the pound against the Euro on their livelihoods.

British cereal farming has been devastated by the impact of the strong Pound against the Euro. This has cut prices, damaged exports and hit support payments, which have fallen by nearly 20 per cent over the last five years, compared with a rise of 15 per cent in the rest of Europe.

However, because the Government has failed to draw down the funds this year, the industry will also lose the compensation that would have been available in the following two years.

The initial part of the payment would have meant approximately £700 for the average farming family - a massive help considering they are currently earning just 70p-an-hour.

The NFU did everything it could to change the Government's mind on this - but it was like turning around a super tanker.

Our case was cast iron. The cereal sector has been let down by the Government in the worst way possible, and many will not have the heart to carry on after this.