Livestock farmers left to deal with large numbers of dead sheep and lambs following the cold snap believe the Government and the National Fallen Stock Company have neglected to enact the one measure which would make a real difference.

After a week of negotiations with Defra officials, the NFU has written to Secretary of State Owen Paterson to appeal again for financial help to allow the free collection and professional disposal of dead animals that are now beginning to be stacked up in farm yards as the snow thaws.

Farmers have been battling to save sheep where possible but many are now at a low-ebb, emotionally and financially. Some have lost up to half of their breeding stock and the lack of grass and feed to sustain the rest is a real concern.

Although Defra has announced a limited relaxation of the rules to allow farmers to burn or bury dead stock on farm, the NFU says Defra has so far refused to take the one single action that would really help farmers by committing to a package to collect those dead animals and dispose of them responsibly. This has left farmers to shoulder the burden of cleaning up these animals which may end up costing thousands of pounds.

NFU livestock board chairman Charles Sercombe said: “In some areas of the country, we could be talking of huge losses for individual farms. No-one wants to see piles of burning animals in the countryside - it is not practical or desirable to dig pits to bury large numbers on-farm. It also flies in the face of what we have been told over the past few years from government about dealing with dead livestock responsibly.

“The only other options are for the farmers to pay someone to collect their dead sheep, or for them to load up their own lifeless flock into farm trailers and drive miles across the countryside to the knackers yard. This is yet another pressure for farmers who have been brought to their knees by a year that has seen upland livestock farm incomes halved, topped by the worst spring snow in living memory.

“It is not fair or reasonable for government to expect families who have spent the past week digging their animals out of the snow to deal with the clean up entirely by themselves. We are not ungrateful for the measures that Government have announced but they are requiring farmers to do things which are simply not practical in the situation which they face.

“No-one is asking for compensation for their loss but we urge Defra and the National Fallen Stock Company to make an effort to help with the real costs of clean up by offering a free collection service to dispose of the animals killed in this natural disaster.”