LIVESTOCK farming in the Upper Dales has been irrevocably changed by foot-and-mouth disease, according to a leading auction mart manager.

Speaking at a meeting of Richmondshire District Council's foot-and-mouth recovery group, Maurice Hall of Hawes mart said the crisis had led to a reassessment of Dales farming.

This would result in significant changes, with the biggest being the loss of mixed farming. "Some people think farmers are stupid for going back to their same old ways," he said. "My feeling is that they are not going back to the same old ways.

"Those who are keeping more cattle are doing so at the expense of sheep flocks. Several who were culled out have decided not to restock with sheep and are going to rely entirely on milk."

"Dairy herds are going to be fewer in number but bigger. Some of the Upper Dales farmers who were part-time dairy farmers have not got the money to reinvest in their dairy facilities and are not going to go back to it. I find that sad. Dales farms have traditionally been mixed farms and I think we might see some environmental effect from this as time goes by.

"Small-scale dairy farming has been the backbone of those Dales for more than 50 years, but a herd of 20 cows is no longer a viable option. Those farmers are going to have to do other things, such as run store cattle, and will almost definitely enter into an environmental scheme such as the Countryside Stewardship programme."

He said the movement laws on livestock were limiting what farmers could take to marts such as Hawes and this was distorting the picture. "This is a transient restocking and is not what is going to be there in the longer term."

He said the possibility of further outbreaks was hampering the recovery process and probably would until May. "We are now moving into the time when any dormant virus in sheep will surface when they come under stress at lambing time," he said.

Dales farmers culled out during the crisis were restocking and this was lifting the mood. "We have got animals back at mart and that is the reason for their optimism."

In the longer term, he predicted that a restructured farming economy in the Dales would be a healthy one. "Hopefully in a couple of years our balance sheets will be bolstered by increased prices for breeding stock as the restocking process goes on," he said.

"After that, prices should be generally higher because numbers will be lower and quality should be better. Crucially, we should be marketing them better.

"That is the challenge for farmers and ourselves: to make sure they get more back than they are used to taking."