Morris Hall, Auctioneer, Hawes.

"We've been closed completely for six months. Now we're open again, but just as a collection point for stock to go for slaughter. The farmers bring them with their own transport, and we transfer them into larger lorries for the abattoir. That's just a service, to reduce transport costs. We don't expect to be operating in the normal way before New Year. With the traditional system, the animals come into the ring, and people bid against each other and set the price. But now, the abattoirs tell us how much they're prepared to pay. So we're actually being dictated to by the eventual buyers, the supermarkets, who buy 75% of the meat. We're in a very weak position. Sheep prices have gone down £6 per head. Last year a sheep would make £34, and this year they're making £28. That's a huge percentage drop. Farming in this country has been supported since WWII, and that clearly isn't going to carry on. The government's message is quite clear: Food production is not a good reason for spending public funds. But I believe that the smaller, non-viable farms in National Park areas like this will attract some kind of environmental support. Although public pressure has moved away from subsidising food, it will move towards subsidising Ôcountryside management'. I think people would be prepared to pay for that. And you can't manage the countryside without cattle and sheep".