The Post reported last week that Little Hoole's Woods Farm Shop had to close temporarily due to confirmed cases of bird flu among its turkeys. DEFRA established a 3 km security zone and a 10 km monitoring zone around the site and "humanely" removed all its birds. The family business was able to reopen the farm shop on Friday (November 4), but the owner is struggling to cope with the emotional impact of the accident, with red tape making financial recovery even more difficult.
John Woods, who runs the station with his wife Kathy and their children, said: "The whole ordeal was and still is terrifying. The store is back and we're very busy, which is good, but getting the farm up and running again is going to be very, very difficult. We want to clean up fast and move on, but right now they won't even let me go to my farm, I can feed the animals and that's it. We want to take some cows from the farm to the store's slaughterhouse, but they won't let us.
“Also, moving things like manure has to be done a certain way to stop the spread, but everyone in the area has been cleaned up, like the vet has gone everywhere here, so it's like closing the barn door after all. this lockdown. There is no horse, we must be allowed to get him to safety as soon as possible. But we can't because the bureaucracy prevents us from doing anything.
“We are caught between a rock and a hard place. All we want to do to move forward is hit the wall. That is our problem at the moment. I don't think the devastation of losing Turkey affects your home. We are trying. make ends meet, but the joy is still there. It's worse in the morning when I go out, so I'm alone. It's emotional. Everyone is upset and now that this has happened, we have to do something, why not just us, but the whole country.
Along with other local farmers, John will meet Lancashire MP Catherine Fletcher this week to discuss the bird flu crisis, including what help farmers can get and what local and central governments need to do to stop the propagation. They fear that if nothing is done now, the bird flu problem will continue and the government will be unable to act until it is too late, with the worst outcome being no birds.
John explained. "Nobody's talking about what he's doing right now, no plans, right? I can't imagine it going away, the only way to fix it is with a vaccine or antibiotic, and there aren't any. Maybe they didn't move enough fast enough or they didn't think it would be as bad as it was.
“If nothing changes, it's not just that I want the turkey back in the yard, why should I, but I'm afraid the turkey will eventually go back into the yard. And the answer will be no, because it is very dangerous. However, the current financial crisis is very difficult to overcome. Fortunately, we have a warehouse and that's the only reason we continue. We put our heads down and plan, but only if you let us do what we want.
Woods Farm Shop has been overwhelmed with support from customers and other merchants, some of whom have even offered financial assistance. However, John said they turned down those offers because they believed that government compensation would be enough to get them up and running again.
Juan added: "I want to thank everyone. We got tickets, we got gifts, people came, you know, last Sunday my first client cried because of me. The people are amazing, they all feel sorry for us, I hope they come."
The store is stocking up on some new turkeys from other local sources for the holiday season in hopes of boosting their seasonal business. For more information, visit the Woods Farm Shop website or Facebook page.
