SOUTH Warwickshire farmers reeling from another blow to the industry, this time from Swine Fever, can take heart from a £200,000 Government grant to help some back on their feet.

The cash will be used by farmers' co-operative Meadow Valley Livestock Ltd to continue with and improve their benchmark data scheme, which aims to help farmers maximise profits by tailoring output exactly to customer demands.

The money is part of a £3 million grant made under the second round of the Agriculture Development Scheme, an initiative from MAFF to improve the marketing and competitiveness of farmers and growers in England.

Meadow Valley is just one organisation nation-wide, hoping to help agriculture haul itself out of the recession caused by a series of crises, including BSE, salmonella and now Swine Fever - a highly contagious disease. This is currently involving a mass slaughter programme among infected herds to stop it spreading.

The scheme operated by Meadow Valley aims to maximise farmer's financial potential by giving them guidelines to work to, based on information from supermarkets - the main outlet for meat sales.

The company takes information from various sources, such as abattoirs, on what weights, fat content, texture and so on of meat the grocery giants are buying so farmers can tailor their livestock to the criteria.

"We have a changed market that farmers have not yet necessarily adapted to," said Mr Jarvis. "Supermarkets are the main sellers of meat and people want different things from the products they buy, so the farmers who produce to account for the changes will be able to get the best prices."

The National Farmers Union has praised the move: Carol Puddephatt said: "All farmers and growers could benefit."