Legacy of 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak for agriculture
10 February 2012 Last updated at 11:53 GMT
An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001 brought the countryside to a standstill. Controversially instead of vaccination, a mass cull was ordered which led to 10 million animals being slaughtered.
Max Cotton looked at what lessons have been learned as he spoke to farmer Philip Heard, Nick Brown, who was agriculture minister from 1998 to 2001, and David Cotton from the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers.