THE lack of understanding between urban and rural folk is causing an increasingly painful headache for farmers.

Just as the National Sheep Association warns that sheep worrying by dogs is causing untold levels of stress, Blanchland farmer Ken Lumley has spoken of the problems caused by walkers with dogs at this time of year.

“There have been several incidents recently involving cows with calves,” he said.

“People have the right to roam nowadays, but they have got the idea they can just go anywhere, but cows don’t know that – and a cow with a calf is a lot more dangerous than a bull!”

He said newborns didn’t know what dogs were and tended to be inquisitive at first when one entered a field, but then tended to emit a noise that conveyed confusion or fear to their mothers.

“That triggers panic in cows, even when a dog is on a lead,” he said. “And people’s first reactions is to attempt to protect their dog by putting it behind them.

“The thing is, they are just going to get flattened.

“People coming out from towns and cities for a nice day in the countryside have little knowledge about how it really works.”

Just because there was a footpath running through a field didn’t mean there weren’t any hazards, he said.

Ken, who is chairman of the Tenant Farmers’ Association, said the growing popularity of Limousins and Blonde cattle had heightened the problem.

“Years ago, cows were gentle and shorthorn and in the byre all their lives, but nowadays we’ve got breeds that are a bit fruitcake.

“If you want to earn extra money at mart, it’s what you have to do, but they are more temperamental.”

While farmers were as governed by health and safety requirements and had to prove they had assessed the risks of just about everything they did, Mr Lumley asked what safety assessment had the Government carried out before introducing right-to-roam across the board.

At the very least, urban folk had to be educated about what living, working and venturing into the countryside really meant.

“It’s not just an idyllic environment,” he said. “It’s somebody’s working environment.

“It has evolved over a long period, but then suddenly you have this extra, unknown quantity introduced.”

The NSA has also released figures that indicate around 85 per cent of sheep farmers have experienced anxiety and stress as a result of sheep worrying.

A questionnaire filled in by 233 sheep farmers showed that the cost and time needed to deal with the aftermath of attacks was also an issue, as was the subsequent depression cited by 30 per cent of respondents. Almost a quarter said the increasing number of attacks had made them think about giving up sheep farming.

Chief executive Phil Stocker said: “Highlighting and raising awareness of this issue is a major remit for NSA.

“In no way do we want to discourage people from getting out and enjoying the great British countryside, but it is vital that everyone appreciates any dog is capable of carrying out an attack on livestock if it is off the lead.

“The impact attacks have on the welfare of sheep is huge, but what this survey has revealed for the first time is the wider implications on farmers and their families.”

Farmers said the situation they found themselves in when asking a dog walker to abide by the law added to their stress.

Around a quarter were met with negative responses that, in many cases, were actually verbal abuse. The survey also shows the majority of attacks occur in private or enclosed fields with no public right of way.