NATIONAL Farmers' Union president Ben Gill, will today spell out his vision for the future of the farming industry at the union's conference.

The way forward for agriculture is top of the agenda at the two-day conference, in London, which will be attended by hundreds of farmers.

The industry was hit by BSE and then crippled by the foot-and-mouth epidemic which led to the slaughter of millions of animals.

Mr Gill believes three million animals could have been spared if the Government had acted more quickly.

He blames the failure to bring in the Army as soon as the virus was confirmed in the country as the biggest mistake in the crisis - the world's single biggest foot-and-mouth epidemic and the most serious animal epidemic in the UK in decades.

The NFU says 8,000 farmers and labourers lost their jobs, and some committed suicide.

Since the first case of foot-and-mouth, last February, and the last case, in September, there were 2,030 cases of the disease nationwide.

Government figures estimate six million animals were slaughtered in an effort to control the epidemic, although critics believe the figure was much higher.

The total amount of compensation paid to farmers has been estimated at £1.4bn.

The foot-and-mouth outbreak officially ended last month when Northumberland, the last remaining "at-risk" county, had its restrictions lifted.

At the conference, Mr Gill will give a far-reaching analysis of how farmers and growers can move towards a more market-orientated industry and how the Government can help them in the wake of the industry's worst crisis.