THE latest news on the BSE crisis this week was a kick in the teeth for the poor beleaguered upland hill farmers of Britain.

As we report today, the statement by a leading academic had an immediate and catastrophic effect on lamb prices at local auction markets.

The timing of the statement could not have been worse. The livelihoods of hill farmers in the Dales has been seriously cut in one damaging statement. The typical image of the moaning farmer pleading poverty in his brand new Land Rover counting wads of twenty pound notes does not ring true for the upland farmer. His income has been on a steep downhill curve for years.

Our farmers are important custodians of the beautiful Dales. Those barns, dry stone walls and picture postcard villages have not developed by accident. Nor are they maintained by nature. And if anyone doubts that local farming is in crises, we would draw their attention to the sale of a farmhouse, buildings and land at Foxup, last month. It was withdrawn from sale at only £60,000, a clear indication that living off the land is no longer an attractive proposition.

When you buy your weekend joint, we urge you to look closely at the label. Insist upon British lamb, beef or pork and make sure that we keep Britain farming.

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