There were 670 places in the UK with recorded cases of bluetongue by Wednesday 26 August, including 332 in Devon and 110 in Cornwall, according to government figures.
Sanders-Carr said he was getting messages of support from all over the country and farmers have been sharing experience and guidance.
“I’ve never had so many WhatsApp messages and phone calls from farmers that I maybe only speak to once or twice a year but we’ve speaking almost weekly in some cases,” he said.
Rural support worker Jerrard, who is based in Crediton, said it has had a huge impact of farmers at affected farms in west Somerset, Devon and north-east Cornwall.
He said: “There’s a tremendous sense of grief, I think, because these folks are entrusted with animals for their lifetime and there is a sense of having let the animals down by seeing them ill, and that is emotionally exhausting.”
Jerrard added farmers have also treated animals “they thought would survive and didn’t” and added “seeing animals suffering is hard for them to bear”.
He said: “To say they are on their knees is an understatement, a lot of them are on their backs.”
Jerrard said the heat had added to the pressure, as farmers were going round inspecting their animals and having to catch them and inject them in heatwave conditions, which had been exhausting.
He said farmers were supporting each other and although they were robust they could be “quite vulnerable”.
The rural support worker added: “There are a lot who went through foot-and-mouth who have said this is as bad.
“When something like this hits, then it hurts.”
He said farmers were also faced with worries about the impact of bluetongue on animals’ fertility next spring.