The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in England has led some local farmers to take a better-safe-than-sorry approach.

For example, the Nutter family has closed the Maple View dairy farm to all visitors, and the tour this weekend is no exception. Participants will be able to visit the Maple View ice cream store, and the family will set up a tent next to the store with information on the farm operation, Bob Nutter said.

"We've closed the farm completely to all tours or anybody who doesn't work here," he said.

"If foot-and-mouth disease comes here, we'd be out of business almost overnight," he said. "It's a terrible, terrible disease."

Several weeks ago, Nutter put up a sign at the farm asking anyone who had traveled to Europe recently to not visit the farm, while other visitors still were allowed.

But he said the consequences from a foot-and-mouth outbreak would be so devastating, the family can't take any chances.

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly infectious viral disease that affects animals including cattle, pigs, goats and sheep. In dairy cattle, the disease can cause things like loss of milk and sterility, according to information from Great Britain's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

The outbreak originating in England has led to the large-scale slaughter of farm animals there to prevent the spread of the disease. According to the ministry, more than 1 million animals have been slaughtered in Great Britain to date.

The Piedmont Farm Tour today and Sunday includes about two dozen local farms with products that range from berries to beef.

The operators of New Hope Farm near U.S. 64 have pulled their beef-cattle operation out of the tour, said Linda Fullwood, marketing manager for Weaver Street Market. The market is a sponsor of the farm tour, which benefits the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association.

But Fullwood said she doesn't know of any other cancellations due to concerns about foot-and-mouth disease.

Karen McAdams said her family farm in Efland is still on the tour, but her family won't allow people to pet farm animals like sheep and goats, as they have in the past.

McAdams, a cooperative extension agent in Orange County, said other farm operators likely will take that same precaution during the tour.

"The people who have animals, most of them have some other things, too, so they'll probably minimize contact with their animals," she said. "I'd say most people are just going to restrict contact somehow, just to be extra careful. It's just so scary, people are very nervous."

McAdams said another precaution that some may take is setting up a disinfectant foot bath for people to step through, although she doesn't plan to do so at her farm.

Tony Kleese, director of the stewardship association, said that tour participants who've been outside the United States within the past 60 days will be asked to not visit the livestock operations this weekend.

"I do recognize it's a serious issue, and I feel like we're taking the precautions to make sure it's not a problem," Kleese said.

"I don't know if it's going to happen in America, but the more global we become, the more of an issue it's going to become," he said about foot-and-mouth disease.

Overall, McAdams said, there's a high level of awareness within the agricultural community about foot-and-mouth disease, and she knows of other dairy farms in Orange County that have posted signs like those at Maple View Farm.