A package of help for farmers worth £120 million has been hailed by the Meat and Livestock Commission as "vital first aid" for the livestock industry.

But with many British livestock farmers currently losing money on every animal they sell and farm incomes the lowest for decades, MLC chairman Don Curry, said farmers must have confidence in the future for the industry to progress.

He said: "With the ban on beef exports hopefully close to being lifted, the high quality of all Britain's red meats is more important than ever. Farmers cannot invest and improve their products while they are losing money or earning a pittance.

"Farmers' confidence can only come if the British product is differentiated from its overseas competition on the basis of its better quality and welfare-friendly production.

"Sales in Britain already reflect the British consumer view that British beef is of higher quality than it competitors, demonstrated by a market share gain for British beef of seven per cent in the first six months of this year.

"These same consumers are now seeking out British pork and bacon because of that high quality and care shown for the animals in its production.

"Successful marketing along these lines is the key to that future confidence, so it is all the more vital farmers are able now to maintain a viable enterprise to meet demands of the market.

"The next step must be lifting of the current ban on beef exports at next week's Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels after which high quality British beef will be available to discerning consumers abroad."

l "A welcome boost for farming but one which is little more than a sticking plaster over a long term problem."

This was the reaction of Council for the Protection of Rural England to Agriculture Minister Nick Brown's £120 million emergency aid package for farmers.

Alastair Rutherford, CPRE's head of rural policy, said: "Farming in crisis is not good for the English countryside. Farmers deserve a brighter future and it is one which needs to protect and restore the health of the English countryside.

"Emergency aid will help some farmers survive this year's crisis but, in the long-term, it is the environment which provides their most enduring asset, and more support should be directed at farming's role as stewards of the countryside."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.