Economist says media frenzy is fuelling foot-and-mouth crisis
Media hysteria is being blamed by a leading economist for fuelling the foot-and-mouth crisis.
Sean Rickard, a former chief economist with the National Farmers' Union, says the outlook isn't as black as has been described by the press.
He suggests country life could be back to normal in a fortnight.
Meanwhile, Asda says it's one of the first companies to be granted a licence to kill livestock and transport meat.
Mr Rickard says: "The first casualty of this crisis has been objectivity, with the press getting the whole scale of the situation out of proportion.
"Many of the animals being culled by farmers were going to be turned into meat products anyway, so it's really a question of cash-flow."
Mr Rickard believes farmers and the Government must now play a waiting game to see how long the outbreak persists and how widespread it is.
Some 363 cases of pork - that's 5.4 metric tonnes - are being delivered this afternoon to Asda's distribution centre in Grangemouth, Scotland, from its supplier in Buckie.
The store group says this is the start of daily deliveries in Scotland, while deliveries to its depot in Wakefield, Yorkshire, will start tomorrow.
