Mr John Fee, an SDLP Assembly member for Newry and Armagh, says he has been told harrowing stories by farmers about how their animals are starting to suffer.
"It is not just the lack of fodder, but also the confinement, which is very tough on the animals. A particular case in point are the 18/20-month-old bulls, which would normally be going to slaughter about now. Instead, they are penned up in their stables 24 hours a day and are becoming a real danger both to themselves and to people trying to handle them.
"Pigs, too, get extremely difficult and nasty when cooped up with not enough space and food. It is not rare that they would then turn on each other and eat each other if in real distress. Needless to say, they are highly dangerous to humans."
What is particularly annoying, according to Mr Fee, is that there are a number of farms in the restricted zones which have had their animals culled and now have surplus quantities of fodder. Their neighbours, on the other hand, whose animals have not been destroyed, have no winter feed left - yet they are prevented from buying up fodder due to the foot-and-mouth restrictions.
"I think the only sensible thing to do would be to use the resources that exist within restricted zones", says Mr Fee. This is a sentiment shared by Mr Wesley Aspon, the commodities director of the Ulster Farmers' Union.
Mr Aspon says: "It is a ludicrous situation if people have to hold on to their stock with no food to feed them and others have a grass surplus with no animals to graze on. Surely, as long as it's within the same restricted zone, a case could be made for granting an exemption."
The Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (USPCA) is particularly frustrated at not being able to visit farms or take in animals, according to its chief executive, Mr Stephen Philpott.
He tells of a pony-trekking club in one of the restricted areas which has recently gone bankrupt and has no money to buy food. "The owner begged us to take the ponies in, but we just can't. I dread to think what state they must be in."
On top of providing immediate financial assistance in cases like this, the only way to deal more effectively with such welfare situations is to draft in private local vets to assist Department of Agriculture officials, Mr Fee says.
Another measure needed is a welfare slaughter scheme like that in place in Britain, says Mr Fee. This is a view shared by the UFU.
Mr Aspon comments: "With the renewed export ban, we know there won't be a market for at least another three to four months. We already have a backlog of 2,500 cull sows and it is growing rapidly. Killing them quickly both to avoid further distress to the animals and financial burdens on the farmers is a matter of the greatest urgency."
Mr Philpott said that the USPCA reluctantly accepted culling as a "necessity for the greater good". But he warned that attempts to eradicate the disease might well lead to even bigger animal welfare problems in the long term. "We know the Department is having a very difficult job in squaring the circle between disease control and animal welfare. Luckily, they seem to be on top of it for the most part. But we would just want to plead with them not to neglect the needs of animals."