THE DECISION by Prime Minister Tony Blair to change policy and reduce the numbers of healthy cattle culled near confirmed foot and mouth outbreaks - and thus save Phoenix, the calf which has become a national media symbol - has once again split the rural community.

Many farmers are delighted. Others, who have seen their livestock wiped out, dismiss the decision as a political "gimmick" to garner general election votes and insist that the policy, once embarked upon, should have been carried through to the bitter end.

Farmers who are having to slaughter healthy animals on welfare grounds because they have been stranded in fields by movement restrictions received another bitter blow when MAFF announced that compensation payments for these animals will be cut.

NFU President Ben Gill said: "The decision to further cut compensation rates will come as a further devastating blow to farmers trying to ride out the foot and mouth crisis."

But other organisations are overjoyed at the decision, including the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST), which has maintained that this policy has been the greatest threat to Britain¹s rare breeds. "This is marvellous news," says Rosemary Mansbridge, the RBST¹s Chief Executive. "We have fought long and hard for this result."

Other developments include:

• The Prince of Wales, speaking on a visit to Canada - home of prairie cereal farming - entered the controversy by saying that it was time we moved back to more traditional farming methods.

• And a survey by the magazine Farmers' Weekly suggests that, when the present crisis is over, some 30% of all British farmers will either downsize their operations - or quit the industry altogether.