AUCTION marts across North Yorkshire were back in business this week, a year after foot-and-mouth blighted the livestock industry.

Northallerton mart opened its doors on Tuesday, exactly 12 months after confirmation of the first outbreak of the virus in England. It was a muted beginning with 34 fat cattle going under the hammer. The handful of buyers present was backed by a large number of farmers there to support the re-opening.

One spectator, Bert Langthorne, who farms at of Brompton, near Northallerton, said: "Today is just about getting the job settled down. It will take a couple of weeks to get the mart stable, then people will see they can get back to selling live-weight."

He said farmers used the auction as a gauge for prices. "The live marts set the trend, so we have got to keep them."

Many of the farmers present were pleased to see the marts open, but concerned that Defra had imposed a restriction preventing stock taken on to a farm being re-sold at auction for 20 days.

"They have got us screwed down," said Mr Langthorne. "If you are tied up for 20 days and selling maybe five or ten beasts a week, you will have 15 to 30 cattle stuck on your farm. The price can go either way during those weeks."

Mart chairman Tom Hugill said farmers had been pleased with the general prices, which were more than sellers had been getting for deadweight. "The beauty of this job is that it is transparent - you get what you see and if you like it, you buy it," he said.

He fears some of the bigger livestock players are unlikely to return to the mart. "We will lose one or two of the big businesses," he said, "and if the farmers don't support the marts, they are going to lose them."

One seller pleased with the auction was Coxwold farmer Philip Houlston. "We always came to the marts before foot-and-mouth and we thought the best way to support them was to come straight back," he said. "We have dairy cows and are breeding all the time. I need to bring them as they are ready and that's what the mart offers."

Northallerton auctioneer and chairman of North Yorkshire marts, Derek Tyson, spoke to the D&S Times after the sale. "This is a tentative step in the right direction," he said. "But it will be nice to get back to normal volumes.

"Today some things went better than others but by and large everything that was brought has been sold. We hope we can build on numbers and improve on trade."

He is optimistic that the mart can get back to its typical working week, with about 300 cattle and 2,000 sheep, but marts and the farmers must first learn how to work round the 20-day rule.

"It is going to be a serious handicap to farmers, particularly in feeding areas such as North Yorkshire which are buying and selling stock all the time," said Mr Tyson. "It is going to curtail their ability to go to an auction mart rather than a deadweight sale."

But he commended frontline Defra workers for their efforts. "The local veterinary staff have been very helpful," he said. "We have had to make a lot of improvements to the mart's structure and have to follow strict security procedures. It is costing us a lot more money. But they have been helpful rather than obstructive."

Leyburn and Thirsk marts are up and running again, with Stokesley to follow next week, but Mr Tyson feels business will only really start to get back on track if Defra re-thinks the movement restrictions. He will campaign to have the 20-day rule changed. "If the regulations are amended, our future is secure. If not, it will be more questionable."

l Stuart Bell, owner and auctioneer of Middleton in Teesdale mart, which re-opened on Monday, said, "We had an excellent sale, with trade very buoyant. All the stock was quite easily sold and the ring was packed with buyers and onlookers.

"The encouragement given to us by dealers and farmers was made fairly obvious. It is good to be back."

It was a similar picture at Barnard Castle, which re-opened on Tuesday with a sale of store and breeding cattle.

Auctioneer William Bramham said the sale had gone very well. "Prices are higher than before the epidemic, with stock harder to come by as many farmers round here were taken out," he said. "But it has been a good day, with buyers from Northumberland, North Yorkshire and as far away as Lincolnshire."