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To: Rarebird who wrote (64782)	2/28/2001 9:44:50 AM
From: The Barracuda™	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116873

greenspan treats the economy as a day trader treats his stock portfolio.

To: Rarebird who wrote (64782)	2/28/2001 12:50:02 PM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116873

Food chain cracking under strain VICKY COLLINS ALL along the food supply chain, the economic cracks are starting to show. Foot-and-mouth may not carry risks to human health, but its fast-rippling effects are likely to have devastating consequences for the people whose lives depend on farming. Abattoirs lie empty, hauliers stand idle, and meat wholesalers are unable to cover their costs as they pay inflated prices for imported products. Many businesses fear they will not weather the storm. For farmers, the primary victims, financial losses are compounded by the constant fear of finding foot-and-mouth among their livestock. For those that do, there is no option but to stand by and watch as their livelihood is destroyed. Kevin Feakins, a farmer in Llancloudy, Herefordshire, whose animals were confirmed as having foot-and-mouth, and were destroyed yesterday, said the effect had been "devastating". Speaking on Radio Wales yesterday, he said: "We're having to watch sheep and cattle, that yesterday were feeding, today being dragged out of sheds and shot in front of your eyes and burnt. Every farmer thinks that it can't be happening to him. Every farmer prays that it can't be happening to him, but the disease seems to be so virulent and so quick." Mr Feakin said compensation could not make up for the long-term effect on the farm, his family, and his earning capability. Animal hauliers are also under severe pressure, since they have had no means of income since the transportation ban was put in place. Jim Stark, who runs an animal haulage business in Milton of Campsie, near Glasgow, said: "I haven't been able to do any work since the ban. I have to start transporting livestock again soon or I will just have to pack it in, although I can't pack it in because I have invested too much money in it." As live animals cannot be moved from farms or markets to slaughterhouses, abattoirs are now lying empty and, like hauliers, no-one in the business knows when trade will pick up again. Robert Patterson, company secretary of Sandyford Abattoir in Paisley, said: "If they lifted the ban on Friday, we would probably be OK. "At the moment, there is obviously no income coming in and there are still wages to pay." Robertson's Fine Foods, a Glasgow-based meat wholesaler, has been forced to face the possibility of closure for the first time in its 130-year history. Humphrey Robertson, com-pany director, said it was now having to import expensive meat from Germany, and as a result it was only managing to recover a third of its costs. He said: "The future looks dire - we are staring into the abyss. Two-thirds of the business is mothballed and we are keeping the rest running by sourcing our raw material from Ireland and Europe. The prices there are inflated by about 30%. "We can only import for so long, otherwise we are not going to be able to pay for it. We are still having to pay employees' wages, and if this continues we will have to consider redundancies. We could possibly survive for a short while, but how long that will be I can't say." -Feb 28th theherald.co.uk