The British army has denied claims its personnel have been active in the exclusion zone around the farm at the centre of the foot-and-mouth outbreak in the North.
Farmers' representatives had expressed concern that soldiers mounting foot patrols or vehicle checkpoints could spread the disease by moving from farm to farm at a time when all other movements were prohibited.
An army spokesman said it was taking all possible precautions. Both soldiers' boots and helicopter landing gear were being disinfected on entering and leaving bases, he said. In south Armagh, "we have significantly altered our modus operandi so that we are not moving across fields," he added.
Despite the army's claims that it had altered its methods, members of the South Armagh Farmers and Residents Coalition claimed nothing had changed since before the outbreak was identified.
Ms Toni Carragher of the coalition said in the Sunday Business Post that the army was "making a nonsense of the exclusion zone. The helicopters are descending on farmland and discharging troops who then move from farm to farm and set up checkpoints on the roads."