US charity aims to help FMD-hit farmers

An American charity is trying to raise 250,000 dollars (£176,000) to help British farmers hit by the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

The charity, Heifer Project International, based in Little Rock, Arkansas, has worked for more than 50 years to alleviate poverty and hunger throughout the world with its donation of animals.

The non-profit organisation is trying to raise the money to give to English-based charities so they can lend it to farmers who need help replacing their livestock, paying for feed and running their farms.

More than four million animals - goats, pigs, sheep and cattle - have been slaughtered in the United Kingdom since February.

So far, the Heifer Project has raised 213,000 dollars (£150,000).

James DeVries, who directs international programmes for Heifer Project, said: ‘‘Being in the livestock business and being concerned about small farmers in the US, we realised how this would affect so many people.

‘‘We just had a lot of empathy for the farmers in England.’’

Heifer Project is working on the programme with its British sister charity, Send a Cow.

David Bragg, a farmer and founding member of Send a Cow, said Heifer Project planned to hold the donated money until affected farmers could re-stock, which they will not be able to do before the autumn at the earliest.

To avoid the risk of the disease being passed on through animal feed, farmers have to treat or burn any straw or hay.

After strict cleaning, a test batch of animals will be introduced to farms.

Those animals must stay infection-free for at least three weeks before the farm could re-stock.

DeVries said Heifer Project planned to use loan repayments by British farmers to help farmers in Africa, to continue the cycle of giving.

‘‘Instead of this just being a hand-out to the farmers in the UK, we hope they turn around and pass on the gift,’’ DeVries said. ‘‘Then we can help farmers in Africa.’’