Category Archives: farming

Where has all our wildlife gone?

Posted on July 11, 2018 by Miles King

What is really, truly happening to wildlife across the UK? Is wildlife disappearing, or are the reports of disappearing insects, road-verge dwelling wildflowers being mown to destruction, and swifts vanishing from our skies, merely agenda-driven doom-mongering by extreme environmentalists, hell … Continue reading →

Posted in bioblitz, Chris Packham, farming, Lush Times | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Sheepwrecked or a World Heritage Site? Thoughts on the Lake District

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Miles King

As the inevitability of President Theresa May being crowned on June the 9th seems without doubt now, we are hurtling, possibly out of control towards the exit, or rather the hard Brexit. This means the UK tumbles out of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Common Agricultural Policy, farm subsidies, farming, George Monbiot, Lake District, Uncategorized | 27 Comments

Dorset Chalk downland damage: Natural England respond.

Posted on April 25, 2017 by Miles King

        Following yesterday’s story about the damage to chalk downland in Dorset, I’ve been contacted by Natural England and I thought it would be useful to let you know what they have said. I approached the EIA … Continue reading →

Posted in chalk downland, farming, grasslands | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Time to rename Defra the Ministry of Agriculture and Fieldsports

Posted on April 10, 2017 by Miles King

While all talk of the Greenest Government Ever (anyone remember that?) has been quietly abandoned, another question arises. Is the fieldsports lobby getting unprecedented access to ministers in the Environment department and are the Environment NGOs being squeezed out of … Continue reading →

Posted in Andrea Leadsom, blood sports, countryside alliance, Defra, farming | Tagged , , , | 15 Comments

Farm Subsidies after Brexit – the first hints from Farm Minister Eustice

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Miles King

We’ve had a first hint from the Brexit side, as to what support farming would receive if the UK left the EU. This from Farmers Weekly” First details have emerged of a plan for British agriculture if the UK leaves … Continue reading →

Posted in Brexit, Common Agricultural Policy, farming, George Eustice, NFU, public goods, rewilding | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

All Carrot and no stick

Posted on January 18, 2016 by Miles King

Last week a farmer in the Yorkshire Wolds successfully sued East Riding Council for compensation of £14500 for the loss of a field of carrots. The carrot crop was apparently lost when floodwater was pumped onto the field at Burton … Continue reading →

Posted in Common Agricultural Policy, drainage, farming, flooding | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Food or Floods?

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Miles King

So much has been written about the recent flooding, that I have resisted the temptation to jump in with size 12 boots; not least because, so far, we have escaped the worst of it in the south-west. However, I read … Continue reading →

Posted in deregulation, Dieter Helm, farming, flooding, Kerry McCarthy, Liz Truss | Tagged , , , , | 19 Comments

Farmers flout TB rules and campaign against loopholes which let TB spread

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Miles King

You really would think that Britain’s farmers would all be on-side supporting whatever actions are needed to reduce the scourge of Bovine TB, wouldn’t you? ‘Fraid not. Last week I explored Defra’s latest proposals to reduce the spread of bTB … Continue reading →

Posted in badgers, bovine TB, farming | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The CAP no longer fits

Posted on June 11, 2014 by Miles King

If there was any doubt before, the Local and Euro Election results indicate there is no doubt that the future of Britain in the EU and perhaps of the entire EU project, now hangs in the balance. Euro scepticism has … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, Common Agricultural Policy, farming, neoliberalism, Owen Paterson, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The CLA reacts hysterically to ideas of removing farm tax-exemptions ; the dependency on state handouts is akin to drug addiction.

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Miles King

I’m tempted to emulate the satire of Tom Pride’s Pride’s Purge with this story, but in truth it needs no satire. Apparently a “leaked document” purports to suggest that Labour are thinking about removing business rate exemptions on Agricultural Land, … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, CLA, farm tax breaks, farming, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 9 Comments