It appears that farmers who lives and livelihoods are embedded in the countryside providing food, supporting the economy, and caring for this precious commodity and its fragile eco-system, are facing attacks from multiple directions.
Vegans determined to inflict their narrow, and some would say unhealthy lifestyle on the nation, are causing distress, anxiety and financial hardship to some farmers, businesses and families.
The hard-liners amongst them are determined to banish livestock, including cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens, which would result in a sanitised countryside with no grass field, just arable where additional chemicals and artificial fertiliser would be required to grow pulses and carbohydrates.
The disgusting and brutal execution of sheep and lambs by criminals, leaving behind butchered carcases has become an epidemic, causing distress and financial hardship. Clearly this crime is alien in British culture. Never before have livestock been targeted in this manner. These lambs are not heading to local high-street butchers or traditional British dining tables!
BBC commentator Chris Packham last week escalated his attempt to ban game shooting. Unbelievably Defra is listening to him instead of doing the job they are paid to do: supporting the agricultural industry to produce food, be creative with diversification, and protect the countryside.
Someone should remind Mr Packham and Defra that land where shoots are managed have a wider variety of wild birds, and far more of them than farms without a shoot.
Just compare the healthy biodiversity on well-run traditional farm with amenity parks including some national parks, ‘managed’ to PC guidelines. There feral pigeons spread disease, aggressive seagulls shadow picnickers grabbing sandwiches and the public dodge piles of dog mess.
What they will not see or hear are wild birds such as robins and bullfinches, tits and yellow hammers. These have been wiped out by rooks which ransack their nests, but God forbid anyone pull down rook nests or shoots them. Mr Packham will have them locked up immediately.
The countryside i now awash with townies who believe they have a right and priority to walk dogs, ride bikes and push buggies across private farmland. They refuse to stick to the foot paths often cutting through fencing and driving quads through standing crops, often hurling abuse at anyone who attempts to stop them or direct them to the signposted route.
It is perhaps time to call a halt to the widespread misuse of access across private land. The original purpose of foot paths crossing farm land was to enable the locals to take a short cut to work, school or church on Sunday. Today that ‘privilege’ is being abused on an epidemic scale by certain members of the public who are aided and abetted by both local and national authorities.
If things do not change and the public fail to respect the countryside code, then I believe farmers have every right to decide who does and who does not have access to their land. This will fly in the face of public opinion but until the risk of open access to private land through traditional footpaths is threatened, I doubt people will appreciate its true value and respect that privilege.
The BBC is now giving air time to those wishing to ban fly and course fishing, a traditional sport enjoyed by millions. The management of rivers and waterways to enable fishing to take place is invaluable in keeping the fish and environment healthy, and free from encroachment by rogue wildlife and vegetation.
It is clear that an extreme section of the community are attempting to close down the countryside, sanitising and turning it into a desert free of wildlife, farm livestock and the experienced farming community who have been producing food and supporting its eco balance for centuries. Their true motive is clearly political, and the result will be the destruction of the British countryside.
Vegans determined to inflict their narrow, and some would say unhealthy lifestyle on the nation, are causing distress, anxiety and financial hardship to some farmers, businesses and families.
The hard-liners amongst them are determined to banish livestock, including cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens, which would result in a sanitised countryside with no grass field, just arable where additional chemicals and artificial fertiliser would be required to grow pulses and carbohydrates.
The disgusting and brutal execution of sheep and lambs by criminals, leaving behind butchered carcases has become an epidemic, causing distress and financial hardship. Clearly this crime is alien in British culture. Never before have livestock been targeted in this manner. These lambs are not heading to local high-street butchers or traditional British dining tables!
BBC commentator Chris Packham last week escalated his attempt to ban game shooting. Unbelievably Defra is listening to him instead of doing the job they are paid to do: supporting the agricultural industry to produce food, be creative with diversification, and protect the countryside.
Someone should remind Mr Packham and Defra that land where shoots are managed have a wider variety of wild birds, and far more of them than farms without a shoot.
Just compare the healthy biodiversity on well-run traditional farm with amenity parks including some national parks, ‘managed’ to PC guidelines. There feral pigeons spread disease, aggressive seagulls shadow picnickers grabbing sandwiches and the public dodge piles of dog mess.
What they will not see or hear are wild birds such as robins and bullfinches, tits and yellow hammers. These have been wiped out by rooks which ransack their nests, but God forbid anyone pull down rook nests or shoots them. Mr Packham will have them locked up immediately.
The countryside i now awash with townies who believe they have a right and priority to walk dogs, ride bikes and push buggies across private farmland. They refuse to stick to the foot paths often cutting through fencing and driving quads through standing crops, often hurling abuse at anyone who attempts to stop them or direct them to the signposted route.
It is perhaps time to call a halt to the widespread misuse of access across private land. The original purpose of foot paths crossing farm land was to enable the locals to take a short cut to work, school or church on Sunday. Today that ‘privilege’ is being abused on an epidemic scale by certain members of the public who are aided and abetted by both local and national authorities.
If things do not change and the public fail to respect the countryside code, then I believe farmers have every right to decide who does and who does not have access to their land. This will fly in the face of public opinion but until the risk of open access to private land through traditional footpaths is threatened, I doubt people will appreciate its true value and respect that privilege.
The BBC is now giving air time to those wishing to ban fly and course fishing, a traditional sport enjoyed by millions. The management of rivers and waterways to enable fishing to take place is invaluable in keeping the fish and environment healthy, and free from encroachment by rogue wildlife and vegetation.
It is clear that an extreme section of the community are attempting to close down the countryside, sanitising and turning it into a desert free of wildlife, farm livestock and the experienced farming community who have been producing food and supporting its eco balance for centuries. Their true motive is clearly political, and the result will be the destruction of the British countryside.
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