Have some of that Chris Packham

primmiemoo

Member
Location
Devon
You'll forgive me that I might know more about the locations I'm referring to than you do, but the farming operations don't actually contribute to the presence of the birds which are drawn by habitat outwith the enclosed land (sea cliffs or moorland).

In any event the point I was making is that the farmers were blissfully unaware of what was going on round about them. Doesn't make them bad people, just shows that they weren't particularly interested. Which is fair enough.


[/:Chortle] I went to some meetings years ago which had a surprisingly high %age of farmers in the audience, where the visiting speaker (speaking about conservation, mostly) got cross afterwards because he detected indifference.
The retired academic who'd organised them had to explain that the farmers were as much a part of the ecosystems he'd been extolling as the fauna and flora, and might be perplexed about his attitude toward their ordinary. They'd pine if it wasn't there. [:/Chortle]

Envy you coastal work, FF.
 
SLA sums it up well. What makes farmers different is that they are more likely to see it holistically. The farmer might not know or even care what the very rare "thigh rubbing" bird is, but they know what species of tree it's nesting in, how that tree fits in the landscape etc. In contrast the enthusiast or expert gets very excited by the one specimen but often lacks an appreciation of the broader landscape and environment and the economic and social forces that have created it.

You might not think that farmers have any particular knowledge but they may be thinking the same thing about you!


Twaddle.
 

brigadoon

Member
Location
Galloway
[


Sorry, but when it comes to matters ecological, most (not all) posting on here are woefully ignorant or completely misinformed and are most certainly following a pre planned agenda.

One thing that strikes me about farmers that I encounter as I gad about the countryside is just how few of them have any interest, knowledge or appreciation of wildlife. It doesn't make them bad people, or mean that they aren't well intentioned. It just seems odd, and a bit sad, that they are so unaware of what's going on about them. It's like nuts for the toothless for them to be living and working where they are.

People posting here post their own observations - not what they have read.

Your second paragraph displays an arrogance which is sadly all too typical
 

egbert

Member
Livestock Farmer
I admit, I have every bit as much of a pre-planned agenda as Fallowfield or Chris Packham.

I go about my life both practising and supporting the raising of livestock across barely improved hillsides.
I'm arguably not very good at either, and i certainly don't know every species of birdie I come across, but to imply me and mine are blind to the nature around us is a pretty gross slur. It's not my hobby, but I'd have to be blind not to see it - indeed, I'm delighted to report we watched a sparrowhawk barrelling down through the dip pens a couple of weeks back, tearing through the spuggies therein, or that there's a barn owl back in the yard, silently lofting when a car pulls into the yard nighttimes. My sheep and cattle and I are -as suggested elsewhere here- part of the ecosystem.

Conversely, millions and millions of people live in sprawling growing urban centres, carpeting the landscape with concrete and MacDonalds.
(Although Fallowfield seems to think this is the fault of the farmers who sold them the land).
Tell me again about the loss of habitat and destruction of the countryside?

I don't especially like narrowminded bigots, whether they're clutching a 12 bore and interested only in shooting thousands and thousands of what are really just ornamental chickens, or are consumed with the idea that their type of farming should be pursued to the exclusion of everything else, blanketing the landscape with whatever is their fancy. Or when they're eco-zealots who obliviously insist that they're right, and farmers are pretty much all R'soles.
I seldom come across the first 2 categories.
 

Raider112

Member
That wouldn't explain why they're quite happy to stand and talk about this and that (some of the places are quite remote and they don't get many visitors), and when you say why you're there, they'll tell you what they know and are generally very helpful. It's just that mostly they don't have any particular interest or knowledge.

A number of times I've been to look at rare stuff (thigh rubbing stuff) hanging about farms, close by the steadings, which the farmer has been completely unaware of.

So, sorry, I think you're barking up the wrong tree there.

'Just because you live by the sea, it doesn't mean you can swim'.
So your speciality is looking at rare stuff? why would a farmer know as much as you about something so rare it is thigh rubbing stuff? there is a vast difference between taking an interest in things which is what you accused us of not doing and being an expert on rare stuff. If we all knew about that stuff you wouldn't have a job, if that is your occupation.
 

Pilatus

Member
Location
cotswolds
People posting here post their own observations - not what they have read.

Your second paragraph displays an arrogance which is sadly all too typical

I may be incorrect ,but I think the individual who posts on here under the name Fallowfield,may have adopted the name from the suburb of Manchester called Fallowfield. I have come to that conclusion as when the "Saddleworth moor fire "thread was running the individual called Fallowfield seemed to know the area,which is not far from Manchester. Should the individual reside in Fallowfield suburb I reckon he must get most of his views on the countryside ,slurred by idealistic views of the countryside as shown on Chris Packhams TV ......watch programmes, which never mention farmers who are custodians of the countryside.
 

SLA

Member
Location
Lincolnshire
[QUOTE="Fallowfield, post: 5563850,
Interesting though how you pigeon hole people and demean them on the basis of where you assume they live.[/QUOTE]

Interesting though how you pigeon hole people, demean them and belittle there experiences and expertise on the basis of where they live and the job they do.

(y)
 

DRC

Member
This ties in with the countryfile thread, where last night they resorted to footage of hedges being pulled out that was from the 1960s or earlier . How are they allowed to get away with that I’ll never know, as they were trying to use it to still blame us.
Just for the record @Fallowfield , we’ve planted many hundreds if not thousands of metres of hedges in the last 15 years, and never pulled any out in my farming career.
That’s why we have 30 fields on a 400 acre farm
 
This ties in with the countryfile thread, where last night they resorted to footage of hedges being pulled out that was from the 1960s or earlier . How are they allowed to get away with that I’ll never know, as they were trying to use it to still blame us.
Just for the record @Fallowfield , we’ve planted many hundreds if not thousands of metres of hedges in the last 15 years, and never pulled any out in my farming career.
That’s why we have 30 fields on a 400 acre farm


Good for you.

Why was it thought necessary to introduce legislation to stop hedges being removed?

How much has been paid out in Hedgerow and Boundary Grants?
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.3%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.9%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,293
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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