No more farmer bashing?

[Nutty]

"The era of farmer bashing is over" says Martin Harper the newly appointed head of conservation for the RSPB as reported in Farmers Weekly.

Being one of the many commercial farmers who strive to farm sympathetically for wildlife it was good to read that the RSPB has vowed to stop being over-critical of farmers and their efforts to protect the environment. I find it annoying to continually read that the demise of wildlife is due to 'instensive farming' with any success stories being attributed to the various wildlife groups.

In this week's issue of FW, Martin Harper is reported to have said that farmers are to be given support and recognition for the steps they take to increase farmland bird numbers. This is great news as it is an issue close to my heart and one I have always debated with any RSPB official I have happened to come across. Hopefully, this new positive policy will encourage more farmers to take on board the environmental issues of today and farm more sensitively which will be of great benefit to all wildlife.

[artdemole]

Farm more sensibly? Some are doing away with field margins for extra crop money....

[Adam Cheeseman]

I would suggest that farmers need to take the wheat with the chaff.

Cheers,

Adam

[The Woodman]

Never criticise farmers with your mouth full.

[Kayleigh]

My local farmer/land owner has recently ploughed up a wildflower meadow that was teaming with butterflies last year and now is rapeseed..
The same has just ploughed up set-aside that has been this way for 20 odd years and left if all roughly ploughed..

So some farmers are good others are good but ALL are there to make money they are not a charity..

[Sledge]

They run businesses and most have to report to their boss(es), like any company reports to boards and shareholders etc.

I work in arable farming and regularly visit farms. Last year I went on a large estate in Wilts with a group of about 20 other farmers. The host got out a large map to start explaining his farming enterprises, but the first thing he was proud to say was that he, with help from RSPB, FWAG etc, had identified 119 spp of birds on the estate, whereas most there could likely name few more than 20 on their farms.

The vast majority of farmers realise their obligations to the environment but can't afford to go bust trying to protect it.

[KentYeti]

Watched a BBC News interview/report this morning about inevitable and pretty steep rises in food prices. Being driven in part by a growth in world population. Expected to rise from 6.5 billion to 9 billion in a timescale I can't remember.

My reading of that is we will all expect our own farmers to increase efficiency to try and meet demand and therefore try and help reduce the growth rate in prices.

If that happens as I feel it will, I very hope that it can be done with a sensitivity towards our wildlife. But surely that has to be balanced with the need to feed ourselves at a price we can afford?

Not going to be easy being a farmer trying to achieve that balance.

Bryan

[RKB]

Originally Posted by KentYeti

Watched a BBC News interview/report this morning about inevitable and pretty steep rises in food prices. Being driven in part by a growth in world population. Expected to rise from 6.5 billion to 9 billion in a timescale I can't remember.

My reading of that is we will all expect our own farmers to increase efficiency to try and meet demand and therefore try and help reduce the growth rate in prices.

If that happens as I feel it will, I very hope that it can be done with a sensitivity towards our wildlife. But surely that has to be balanced with the need to feed ourselves at a price we can afford?

Not going to be easy being a farmer trying to achieve that balance.

Bryan

It would help if the scientifically-illiterate lobby groups like Friends Of The Earth and Greenpeace hadn't helped create an EU-wide moratorium on GM crops, which would allow us to produce more food from less land area, allowing more room for those wildflower margins instead of wheat and maize.

[Goatboy]

I've worked in the dairy industry for over 15 years and I've got to know a lot of farmers and learned a lot about their farming practices

I'm not from a farming background myself and care as much about wildlife as I do about my job. So hopefully I'm fairly impartial.

Some farmers do an awful amount and are very keen wildlife enthusiasts themselves. Some don't.

As for those who don't - I can guarantee criticizing them will do nothing to help the wildlife cause.

Like them or not, farmers control a lot of the land in this country. We must find ways of working together and building bridges if we are to provide habitats for our wildlife.

[Littlesparrow]

Having watched a very interesting program about plant genetics in wheat and rice, I think increasing pressure will come on farmers to feed the world. The worlds population is increasing and if scientists can manipulate rice to be more productive there is a moral obligation to do so.

Here in Britain it is not only farmers that can do their bit to help wildlife, planners could think more about leaving green corridors between built up areas, parks could set aside wildlife areas and what about roads that are notorious for road kill.