FARMERS in the North put on a brave face yesterday and turned out in their thousands to Balmoral Show in Belfast in brilliant sunshine. But the confident faces hid the disastrous impact that the BSE crisis is having on the beef industry in the North, where the first 2,000 animals have already been slaughtered.
Indeed some of the animals on which rosettes were pinned with great pride yesterday will soon be slaughtered.
Mr David Rutledge, chief executive of the North's Livestock and Meat Commission, said this was a sad fact of life which the industry had to face. Since March 20th, he had seen substantial markets in Europe, which were carefully built up over years, wiped out. A strong trade with the Netherlands, in particular, was worth more than £20 million.
"It's grossly unfair that we should be singled out, because we do not have high levels of BSE. We are just going to have to get on with life," he said.
There have been 1,700 cases of the disease in the North's herd of 1.6 million animals.
Baroness Denton, the Minister with responsibility for Agriculture in the North, launched a special BSE farm advice telephone line.
The problem of slaughtering animals over 30 months old is being dealt with in an orderly way. A committee has been set up to tell farmers which of the 19 plants they must bring their animals to for disposal.
Two plants dedicate a day's processing to dealing with animals to be slaughtered. Rendering plants process the carcasses, and 2,000 a week will be slaughtered until 50,000 animals are killed.
Mr Rutledge, who has the task of trying to win back a good name for Northern Ireland heel, has introduced quality assurance schemes, and a computer system which can trace all animals is operated by the Department of Agriculture in the North.
On its stand, Mr Frank Foster, who is dealing with the BSE problem, said that while some farmers would face heavy losses because of the crisis, some would get away virtually unscathed.
"I know some farmers who have literally had to sell animals to pay for the groceries. It is very tough, particularly on the smaller farmers," he said.
There was a sense of isolation too around the cattle rings where, for the first time in over 30 years, cattle from the Republic were not on show. The animals could be taken North, but could not, under current emergency regulations, be reimported back across the Border.
The show ends tomorrow.