This month saw the return of the dreaded bird flu to Britain. The deadly H5N1 strain was confirmed in farmed bird flocks in Norfolk and Suffolk.
The source of the outbreak has yet to be confirmed. The bird flu striking again this month follows on from the bluetongue disease outbreak in October and the Foot and Mouth outbreak in September.
It is to be hoped that this is not a biblical set of plagues that is set to afflict the farming sector!
There has apparently been another leak of Foot and Mouth virus at the site of the original outbreak which doesn't bode well for the sector. The lessons on bio-security that have supposedly been learnt seem not to be sufficient.
The bird flu is not regarded as a hazard to the general public at this point. Scientists hope the early identification of bird flu and tight controls on the movement of poultry and their waste will stop the virus spreading. Lessons learned from February's H5N1 outbreak at a turkey farm, also in Suffolk, highlights how important bio-security measures are.
Another plague, this time of jelly fish, managed to wipe out the salmon stocks of Northern Ireland's only salmon farm, Northern Salmon.
The density of jellyfish stopped workers from reaching cages. The biblical imagery of the river of blood was invoked by the bloom turning the sea red.
The company has some high-profile clients, with Irish chef Richard Corrigan serving Glenarm salmon to the UK monarch on her 80th birthday last year as part of the BBC's Great British Menu programme.
In the Glenarm bloom, the density of jellyfish stopped workers from reaching cages. Their presence in the colder northern waters is thought to be due to wind and tidal factors.
Thankfully not then a scourge sent from the Almighty.
For many farmers however, it looks as if 2007 is shaping up to be their annus horribilis.
