spin cycle
Member
- Location
- north norfolk
two yrs after we had sheep back on the farm the housemartins returned after more than a decade
i reckon them insects are bluffing cos i think they're going to take over the post apocalyptic world
Insects on the brink
- Thread starter Bogweevil
- Start date
two yrs after we had sheep back on the farm the housemartins returned after more than a decade
i reckon them insects are bluffing cos i think they're going to take over the post apocalyptic world
- Location
- Near Beeston Castle
The withdrawal of organophosphates and neonics probably lead to less insects as everyone turned to pyrethroids.
yellow belly
Member
- Location
- south west lincolnshire
imho the main reason windscreens do not have insects on them is that cars are much more aero dynamic and the insects just slip by without getting splated
Something that should be pointed out to the vegans when they say we should all be growing crops.Think how many bugs just one 36 metre SP sprayer can kill in a season.
Many billions probably.
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
Well if you take my former tenancy as an example, ten yrs ago it was all organic, one third in grass, 1000 ewes on it and rest in wheat , barley ,spuds, stubble turnips etc.
An annual bird survey confirmed a steady rise in numbers.
Swarms of swallows would fly around the combine at harvest time catching the clouds of insects which rose from the header.
Now the place is a desert, every inch ploughed up for cereals,no stock, no muck, no farmer, no workers and no hedges
An annual bird survey confirmed a steady rise in numbers.
Swarms of swallows would fly around the combine at harvest time catching the clouds of insects which rose from the header.
Now the place is a desert, every inch ploughed up for cereals,no stock, no muck, no farmer, no workers and no hedges
dowcow
Member
- Location
- Lancashire
You can still get your car covered in bugs, but you have to go a little over the legal speed limit to do it. There's too much traffic and too many speed cameras and traffic officers for that these days.
I wonder how many more surveys and how many more scientists there are now compared to 20 or 30 years ago, it’s like all this stuff quoted from when records began, I bet records were a lot more sparse a century ago.
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
One simple way round this would be for the government to issue contracts to farmers, to carry out works required. Oh, hang on they have time and time again....and still the issue pops up. It's not farmers, or house builders causing this as much as the government not incentivising it effectively.
Maybe the following improvements would help:
Paid at an attractive level (not cost plus, and not income foregone!)
Paid on time or in advance, like any normal business contract
Don't kick the farmers if they follow the recipe to the letter but the consultants/bigwigs who were paid a fortune (and have since scarpered!) to devise the plan get it so wrong the results don't appear. Make those who devise the plan carry some responsibility.
Plenty of contracts issued to Ringway, Amey etc each year which I'm sure aren't based on the cost plus a bit....and then paid late!
If farming was profitable, they'd legislate.
Since farming is only just surviving they think they can pay pittance as farmers don't have any more profitable alternatives.
Looking around today, plenty of yellowing fields and wet spots which are bound to knock yields a little. Imagine if farms were paid enough to drain 50% of their farm, provided they left the other 50% fallow! Yields improved, less fertiliser, less carbon emissions, and significant acres of habitat created.
Chronic underinvestment in farm infrastructure makes farming much less efficient and less profitable. Intensify part of the farm, and extensify the remainder and you might have a more profitable, more environmentally friendly farm.
Maybe the following improvements would help:
Paid at an attractive level (not cost plus, and not income foregone!)
Paid on time or in advance, like any normal business contract
Don't kick the farmers if they follow the recipe to the letter but the consultants/bigwigs who were paid a fortune (and have since scarpered!) to devise the plan get it so wrong the results don't appear. Make those who devise the plan carry some responsibility.
Plenty of contracts issued to Ringway, Amey etc each year which I'm sure aren't based on the cost plus a bit....and then paid late!
If farming was profitable, they'd legislate.
Since farming is only just surviving they think they can pay pittance as farmers don't have any more profitable alternatives.
Looking around today, plenty of yellowing fields and wet spots which are bound to knock yields a little. Imagine if farms were paid enough to drain 50% of their farm, provided they left the other 50% fallow! Yields improved, less fertiliser, less carbon emissions, and significant acres of habitat created.
Chronic underinvestment in farm infrastructure makes farming much less efficient and less profitable. Intensify part of the farm, and extensify the remainder and you might have a more profitable, more environmentally friendly farm.
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
I see what you mean. Clearly the rise in consultants, charities, research scientists, vegans and such is directly related to the decline in insects.
More vermin control needed?
Devil's advocate
Member
- Location
- Posh side of Barnsley
I'm very pro .
neo nic
But those crops will mostly likely be grown for animal feed.
It is possible to have a future with less crops, less amimals, MORE GRAZING ANIMALS we just need to eat less meat, more veg & much less intensive housed animal/products.
It won't happen, though will it?
Same with the reports on the ice cap melting, researchers and there diesel ships constantly polluting one of the most pristine places on earth, blaming us thousands of miles away.
There are always rights and wrong ways of doing things and we all need to do our part with protecting the environment, it just annoys me with the constant scrutiny and blame we as food producers are put under, while so called experts get fat off proving everything right or wrong all the time.
It does annoy me that on one hand Dr Fox says cheap food imports will be a benefit of brexit and on the other hand Gove saying environment is the main goal. 2 points here
1. Cheap imports, most likely mean produced in more environmentally damaging way ( using nieonic’s as an example, or using deforestation land, or trying to grow water needing crops in an area like South Australia which doesn’t have regular water supplies)
2. We need a balance of food production and environmental, and both aspects need to be profitable and why isn’t there more incentive for private investments in these schemes to offset their damaging effects I.e house builders.
This is something we as farmers have a great ability to achieve and yet government don’t seem to have the appetite to really force this issue. It would save the tax payer and also probably be more reliable and meaningful than the current government schemes which they seem to have given up on paying for.
1. Cheap imports, most likely mean produced in more environmentally damaging way ( using nieonic’s as an example, or using deforestation land, or trying to grow water needing crops in an area like South Australia which doesn’t have regular water supplies)
2. We need a balance of food production and environmental, and both aspects need to be profitable and why isn’t there more incentive for private investments in these schemes to offset their damaging effects I.e house builders.
This is something we as farmers have a great ability to achieve and yet government don’t seem to have the appetite to really force this issue. It would save the tax payer and also probably be more reliable and meaningful than the current government schemes which they seem to have given up on paying for.
If we loose insecticides in the future we will only have ourselves to blame
Truth is that some farmers and agronomists should be allowed no where near these products and don’t use them at all responsibly
It’s going to ruin them for others that do use them properly and have an understanding of IPM
Without doubt this is the most abused group of chemistry we have, it’s no surprise at all that populations are in crisis and we should all be VERY concerned about that
Truth is that some farmers and agronomists should be allowed no where near these products and don’t use them at all responsibly
It’s going to ruin them for others that do use them properly and have an understanding of IPM
Without doubt this is the most abused group of chemistry we have, it’s no surprise at all that populations are in crisis and we should all be VERY concerned about that
Crop pest epidemics are a symptom of monoculture, though even in more mixed countryside and less populated areas like France they still have pest problems. It would be interesting to read some stories from the agronomists of the '60s and '70s to see what issues they had.
I personally think margins are not great, a bit of spray drift and half of a 10m margin gets a dose of what ever (I know we are not meant to have spray drift) also general public think they are brilliant new footpaths to let rover explore and sh!t to his hearts content. I prefer larger blocks or corners which are not great on yield maps if you do the headland it just makes another headland 10meters in, effectively giving you a higher percentage of headlands over a smaller area. If you get my drift.