But 20-year-old Peter Taylor is bucking that trend and decided four years ago, despite all the odds that are against him, to take up a career in the farming industry.

He remembers his grandfather running a farm in Wales where he often helped out until he was 14. After this he started going to help out at a neighbour's before deciding he would like to start out on his own.

Mr Taylor now rents land at Church Farm in Wotton Underwood where he currently has about 83 head of cattle. As a result of the foot and mouth movement restrictions, however, he is now feeling the pinch because he cannot sell the animals on.

He said: "I am surviving on credit cards at the moment. It costs a lot of money to run a farm and I can't pay for anyone to help me so I'm doing about 100 hours a week. I'm quite lucky because I have a friend who is helping me, but I can't pay him.

"My personal opinion is that the Government and Defra aren't doing enough. They have ground the movement of cattle to a halt, which is fair enough, but we don't get to hear anything about it apart from what there is on the news."

Movements have been lifted to allow farmers to take animals to slaughter, but Mr Taylor cannot take the calves he deals with because they are too young and would not make any money.

The National Farmers' Union is reminding holders of livestock that even in such difficult times, farmers have a duty to care for their animals properly and that movement to other locations within the same holding or to a slaughter house should be for welfare reasons.

Virginia Stollery, group secretary for the Aylesbury branch of NFU, said: "Farmers are still able to move to slaughter, but the vehicles have to go straight from the farm to the slaughter house, which can be difficult for anyone with just one or two animals to take because it isn't worth using a lorry to move such a small number.

"Hopefully from August 23 movements are going to be allowed to collection centres, which will allow people with only a few animals to go to places like Thame market and their animals will get sent off together.

"If there are no more cases reported of the disease, and that is what we are all really hoping for, all remaining restrictions will be lifted by September 10, which includes the export ban and restrictions on livestock markets."

To keep the farm running, Mr Taylor pays £400 a month in rent, £35 a day on milk solution for the calves and two £7.50 bags of feed as well as having to pay for his own house and living expenses.

Mr Taylor added: "It doesn't sound like all that much, but it soon adds up. I was going to get a tractor and I had cleared all the finance with the bank, but now I can't do that because I don't know when I'll be getting money in again I probably won't be able to do anything until next year.

"It's pretty bad really, because farming was just starting to get good again, and now you just get knocked back again. I do question why I started farming sometimes, but that's the way it goes."

Now that the animals have been there longer than usual he is running out of grass and is unsure what he will do when there is not enough grass.

Since the latest case of foot and mouth was reported there have been more scares at other locations in Kent and Surrey, but fortunately for an already nervous market, these turned out to be false alarms and the temporary control zones have been lifted.

Debbie Reynolds, the government's chief vet, said: "We are grateful to the industry for its tremendous help to date in support of efforts to control this outbreak. Vigilance and biosecurity remain top priorities for all. We understand the industry's need for information about likely next steps to help manage the pressures and to plan going forward.

"In light of the present disease situation and the assessment (last week) of the very low risk of disease spread outside the surveillance zone, we have agreed with stakeholders a set of changes to movement restrictions designed to alleviate the most acute welfare problems. These changes form the next step in our ongoing risk-based, staged approach to movement controls. They will be informed by any changes in the disease situation."

Mr Taylor added: "In 10 or 20 years I don't reckon there'll be smallholdings like mine at all because it will just be big farmers and hobby farmers."