2001 UK foot-and-mouth outbreak - 25 years on: "The fear that their own farm might be next hung over them constantly" | Farm News

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2001 UK foot-and-mouth outbreak - 25 years on: "The fear that their own farm might be next hung over them constantly"

The 25th anniversary of the foot-and-mouth outbreak in the UK brings back vivid memories for many farmers of a truly heartbreaking time for the countryside

Chris Brayford

16 February 2026 鈥� 5 min read

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Sue English, Addington Fund director, said: "We listened to farmers describe the deafening silence on their farms after their livestock had been culled - the emptiness of a once-busy milking parlour, cattle shed, or lambing barn now stripped of life." (Picture of King Charles, then Prince of Wales, visiting Addington Fund's operations room in 2001 during the height of the foot-and-mouth outbreak).

It has been nearly 25 years since the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak which brought tremendous sadness and heartbreak to the people who work and live in the countryside. The date of February 19 2001 will...

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