THE human cost of the foot-and-mouth outbreak may not become apparent until next year.

David Haynes, director of the Samaritans branch in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, said that while many rural businesses may be able to keep going in the short term, they had been unable to build up reserves to tide them over the winter.

He said: "Businesses in the dales don't make a fortune, and if you come back in the spring you will see far more suffering."

He said the Samaritans had set up sessions on listening skills with outside agencies and businesses that come into regular contact with farmers.

"It is not really training so much as pointing them in the right direction so they feel more confident in what they're doing," he said.

"It is a matter of people feeling that what they're doing is the right thing, listening to these people and not trying to solve their problems.

"If you work for a feed company, it may be that you have a natter with farmers anyway, but this time they may tell you their problems and get quite emotional.

"You can't change their circumstances, but it is an opportunity to let them talk about it."

He said the emotional impact of seeing a business fail may be made worse by a feeling of being unable to influence its future.

He said: "If you are running a business and you are forced to close, you get over the economics of it, you get so you can eat, even though you might not enjoy the same standard of living.

"But the feeling of failure remains, despite the fact that it was not your fault."

Read more about the foot-and-mouth crisis here.