With rainfall low and food security a priority, Dorset farmers push back on proposals to reduce farmland in favour of trees and stewardship
It has been a busy couple of months at Rawston Farm with all the spring barley and beans now drilled, with only the forage maize still to be sown (this should be completed by the time you read this!). All this is very different to last year, where crops had to be sown far later due to the wet weather. In March and April this year we have had less than 2 inches (50 mm) of rainfall: last year we had received almot 8 inches (200mm) by now. Of course, if we don’t get further rainfall soon the crop yields will be reduced … Our grassland is only just keeping up with the demand from our dairy cows, who are now grazing night and day. Grass silaging is just around the corner – again, yields will be reduced for next winter without some decent rainfall soon. But there is still a long way to go!
An idealistic future
I recently attended a meeting organised by the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) – a group of Farmers and Landowners met to discuss the Land Use Consultation Document (LUCD) put out by the government. The aim of it, I think, was to look forward as to the possible use of land in this country. From a farmer’s perspective, I obviously firmly believe our primary aim should be to feed the nation. In a world facing increasing uncertainty, food security has never been more important.We should not be relying on imports to keep the population fed.
I appreciate that we cannot produce some fruit and vegetables, but we should not be completely reliant on those. The proposal in the LUCD was that ten per cent of productive farmland should be planted with trees, and a further ten per cent converted into land managed under environmental stewardship. Our group felt this would have a considerable impact on the country’s food production, and that this conversion would make many farms unviable.
There was also a suggestion in the LUCD that farmers should produce ‘more food from less inputs and become more efficient’: this is difficult for producers to take on board when we are already embracing technology, and we certainly have no influence on the weather that we receive! There was a valuable debate, followed by a draft response outlining that many of the proposals simply aren’t achievable. And all of this came before we even reached the question of how many houses Dorset should build – a county that already seems to be expanding rapidly on the edges of every town.
Rawston hedgerows
We have recently been engaging the Great Big Dorset Hedge: this involves volunteers coming out to survey our hedges. Under the guidance of John Calder, the volunteers are mapping the condition of our hedges and determining what future management practices are needed. This could be filling gaps with more hedging, cutting more (or less) frequently or maybe allowing the hedge to grow by incremental trimming each year. We are awaiting the results and are ready to carry out any recommendations. Well done to John for getting this underway – though with Dorset’s famous hedges, I am not sure how long it will take to complete the county!
At the time of writing we are undergoing another TB test – fingers’ crossed we can have a clear test.
