FOOT-AND-MOUTH disease may have been beaten, but farmers in North Yorkshire are still facing their biggest crisis for half a century.

The new chairman of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), Michael Willoughby, claims poor commodity prices and a poor exchange rate are combining to keep the squeeze on the rural economy.

Although diversification may be a method of recovery, he warns not all are willing or able to face the challenge.

He said: "The public would not like to see an unfarmed Britain.

"The landscape is created by its use, from trees to wheat fields. Just as people don't want to see brown field sites in urban areas, the same applies to the unfarmed landscape.

"The CLA's role is to lobby both the British and European parliaments. Our principle objective is to see profits restored to agriculture. Without them, everything disintegrates.