A FARMER has been fined £1,000 after transporting a cow which was later deemed unfit to travel by veterinary experts.

Gilbert Metcalfe, 53, of Mansergh, near Kirkby Lonsdale, pleaded guilty at South Lakeland Magistrates Court to transporting an animal which was not fit for the intended journey under the Animal Health Act 1981.

Prosecuting on behalf of the Cumbria Trading Standards, Mary Claydon told the court that on September 21 last year the Friesian in question was taken on a six-mile journey from Metcalfe's farm to Sedbergh Auction Mart where its poor condition was noted.

She said a Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs vet was called in and found the cow to be extremely thin and bleeding from wounds. A video shown to the court saw the vet catalogue the animal's ailments a lateral claw had been amputated from its hind foot, and it had swelling on the left hip, lameness and a deep skin ulceration.

She added that Metcalfe, who was present during the vet's inspection, said he was aware he could have opted to have the animal destroyed on his own farm rather than at the mart but, in his opinion, the cow was fit to travel because it could walk "four square".

In mitigation, Claire Kirkpatrick told the court that after calving the cow stopped gaining weight and developed problems with its foot leading a vet to amputate its back claw.

She stressed that within a week of the animal's condition worsening, Metcalfe decided to take the cow to the auction mart and have it humanely killed.

"It is not a case Mr Metcalfe doesn't care for the animals it was just that day he made the wrong decision," she said.

She added that it cost an extra £70 to shoot an animal on the farm rather than at auction but that it was not a cost issue because an extra £70 would make little difference to Metcalfe's annual £16,000-plus veterinary bill.

Magistrates told Metcalfe: "This did not happen overnight or as the result of one injury. Over a prolonged period it got into that state and as a result it was not fit to travel on that day."

Metcalfe was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £200 costs.

l A SOUTH Lakeland farmer is to stand trial at crown court accused of 30 offences including causing unnecessary suffering to animals and failing to keep records regarding his livestock. Raymond Patrick Crawford, of High Thorn Farm, Selside, who previously pleaded not guilty to the charges, is due to appear at Carlisle Crown Court on February 28.

Business head will be key to land skills...' AN ENTREPRENEURIAL business head is key to earning a future from the land, according to Cumbria's leader of the Learning and Skills Council.

Mick Farley, the regional boss of the Government agency for post-16 education, said training priorities for land-based education needed a rethink as a result of the Common Agricultural Policy shake-up.

"What is clear is that by 2012 the Single Farm Payment will disappear and anyone who relies on it to keep going will be out of business by then. So skills for the land-based industries must change. Entrepreneurial skills, good business management skills; and knowledge and understanding of the environmental value of land and how it must be managed for sustainability, will all be essential."

As well as re-focusing training, he said colleges would have to diversify into other areas such as sport and tourism to cope with smaller numbers of students demanding land-based education, which was expensive to provide.