MICHAEL Wise and his wife, Mavis, are not going anywhere.

As they sit in their farmhouse near Darlington, County Durham, monitoring the news bulletins for the latest information on the foot-and-mouth outbreak, they brace themselves for yet another setback to their long-suffering business.

With the full impact of the outbreak still to become clear, the pair have decided to impose their own quarantine - which means no visitors, or twice weekly trips to the auction.

"It's a disaster really," said Mr Wise, 57.

"We've just gone from one crisis to another and we thought it was going to start to get better - but it's not.

"If it starts spreading to farms in Tyne Valley, it will soon be all over the place."

The 200-acre farm, at Little Stainton, has been in the family for four generations. Mr Wise has more than 90 beef cattle and 300 pedigree Texel ewes.

But the farm has made "practically zero" profit for the past two years, with the couple steadily eating into their savings.

The Wises have invested a great deal of time and money into their pedigree yews - which can fetch five to six times more than the normal rate for sheep.

But the couple are among thousands who are left wondering if they can weather the prospect of yet another crisis in the agriculture industry.

They feel anger towards the Government, particularly watching cheap imports come into the country, while they struggle to compete with their Euro counterparts.

"This Government doesn't care about agriculture," said Mr Wise.

"But things are going to have to change drastically, or there'll be no produce left. It will all be imported from abroad."

For now, the Wises, who have a daughter, Clare, who is studying at Newcastle University, are concentrating on the lambing season.

If the disease hits their farm, they will be paid full market value by the Government for any slaughtered animals.

But, if they crumble under the effects of the crisis, they won't receive a penny.

All they can do is sit tight - and wait.