Since going on Twitter I’ve come across quite a range of farmer opinions. There are some great people out there, without a doubt, but the farming community is a bit of a bubble which is only made worse by the social media algorithms that show us what they algothink we want to know. I want to know what those farmers think too, and what opinions circulate in the farming bubble, because it has quite forcibly struck me that the state of the biosphere is in the hands of a quite remarkably small number of people. If there are 68 million people in this country and there are 138,000 farmers, and if my maths is any good, that’s 0.2% of the population. I know that they are not quite free agents. For years they have been encouraged to farm in particular ways by governments and the EU and the agrochemical industry moulding farming in their own interests. But they are still as responsible for their choices as the rest of us, and they have a hugely disproportionate power to improve or wreck the biosphere, and it is important to get a handle on how their minds work. Conservationists don’t need to blame farmers, but we do need to hold them accountable for past damage and for future restoration.
Just done a rookery survey in Maesmynis. Talked to two farmers up there. NICE people. USED to be a big rookery, but no rooks now. Pesticides. But we don't use them! Do you use chemicals to kill insects on your livestock? Yes... Which comes out and is spread on the land as manure. Oh.
Just done a rookery survey in Maesmynis. Talked to two farmers up there. NICE people. USED to be a big rookery, but no rooks now. Pesticides. But we don't use them! Do you use chemicals to kill insects on your livestock? Yes... Which comes out and is spread on the land as manure. Oh.