- Location
- Ceredigion
If you where to write a short piece on progress in farming its effect on communities and life itself how would it read ?
Progress
- Thread starter Derrick Hughes
- Start date
Cowabunga
Member
- Location
- Ceredigion,Wales
Where indeed?
It depends on the quality of the writing and the logic of the points made, plus the correctness and entertainment value.
It also depends on the interest of the reader group the article is aimed at and whether they can digest the content provided or whether they have the attention span of a goldfish with dementia. The article has to be written to suit the target audience.
- Location
- East Sussex
sh!t.
- Location
- Ceredigion
Has anyone read Small is Beautiful by Dr Schumacher.
2 Centuries of doom and gloom. Except for 30 odd years after WW2.
Imports from abroad. Bulk tank collections in the mid 70's finished off small milking herds on 20-40 acre holdings. Quotas in 1984. Mass land grab when subs introduced in the 90's/ 00's. Mechanisation leading to job loses. Supermarket domination . Pushy button tractors. Rules/ regs/ red tape.
Progress. What progress?
Nothing very exiting is going to happen in agriculture till prices increase....a lot.
Imports from abroad. Bulk tank collections in the mid 70's finished off small milking herds on 20-40 acre holdings. Quotas in 1984. Mass land grab when subs introduced in the 90's/ 00's. Mechanisation leading to job loses. Supermarket domination . Pushy button tractors. Rules/ regs/ red tape.
Progress. What progress?
Nothing very exiting is going to happen in agriculture till prices increase....a lot.
- Location
- East Sussex
I wasn't far off then!
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Yes, and I try to live by it, as far as I can. Trouble is I can't persuade the local council, utility suppliers, the Mrs and other family members that "small is beautiful" when it comes to the bills I have to pay.
It is doable if you don't expect a Range Rover, a 72" TV and several holidays per year.
All depends what you value really. I get enough satisfaction from growing crops and livestock on a small scale, so I don't "need" lots of money.
- Location
- Lincolnshire
From a humanist point of view I think we've gone backwards during the last thirty years in farming. Less people working all hours with less job security. Communities now largely non existent, just retirees all over the countryside here.
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Call me a communist but I've often wondered about setting up a "community venture" where volunteers can come and grow and harvest the spuds. Plenty of people about here with part time jobs, semi retired etc who could do it. Would be an interesting experiment. Volunteers could invest their cash in shares in the venture to pay for the inputs then share the produce or profits from sales amongst themselves. I'd be happy to trouser the basic payment as a rent for the plot as its paid by the taxpayers anyway. My mate at a university near here is running these schemes quite successfully getting inner city people involved with quite good results.
your a communist,@DrWazzock
it was a fast readNo.
Is that what you say to the wife
- Location
- Lincolnshire
I suppose communism isn't "small" though. The small entrepeneur disappears under state control on a huge scale, no better than large scale capitalist farming to the ordinary man.
- Location
- East Sussex
A kibbutz?
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Maybe it comes down to small scale ownership and independence. It brings motivation and a certain efficiency in being able to react quickly and in tune with the circumstances.
Whereas large scale ownership has brought remoteness of management and disempowerment of local people.
I don't know the answers. But society seems to be striving for something yet getting further and further from it.
Whereas large scale ownership has brought remoteness of management and disempowerment of local people.
I don't know the answers. But society seems to be striving for something yet getting further and further from it.
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Yes a kibbutz but enough ownership and financial investment by the volunteers to make them truly motivated, rather than them being able to make a hash of it and walk away with no consequences.
Danllan
Member
- Location
- Sir Gar / Carms
@DrWazzock I am not sure if you have been writing tongue in cheek or not. Not meaning this in a derogatory way, but such ventures only seem to work while the TV cameras are there and anyone not 'pulling their weight' can be named and shamed. @Purli R is not entirely right, there are in fact many selfless people out there who work for entirely altruistic reasons, but there are at least as many again who are willing to take advantage of them. I laud your idealism but don't think it realistic in terms of achieving anything other than creating a new way of meeting fairly like-minded people.
- Location
- Lincolnshire
It was Sunday evening idealistic ramble. I've floated the kibbutz idea in the pub before now. People tend to lose interest when you mention they'd be lucky to earn minimum wage at least in the set up phase. Then there the tax and accounting issues. Are they employees, self employed, shareholders, directors etc? And it needs good and experienced leadership if it isn't to quickly end in failure.
It would be interesting though to hive off say 3 acres and let my lefty friends get on with it. Not sure I could cope with such a system. I like to be in control of my patch. As I said earlier though there are lots of people around nowadays who are what I would call semi employed who would have the time to do it, and initially the enthusiasm.
- Location
- Lincolnshire
The other thing I was considering about the OP was planning.
It would suit the land better here to have a few smaller cattle sheds dotted about the farm rather than one big shed in the middle with a feeder wagon etc.
The smaller spread out sheds mean the cattle can runout for longer whilst feeding in the shed so better ventilation etc. Feed and bedding can be stored at these outlying sheds at harvest time for quick hand feeding during the winter, and muck is nearer where it's needed. Less machinery needed, less paddling about etc. But the planning system nowadays doesn't like a countryside dotted about with small modern holdings and sheds. It likes big units hidden out of sight and uninterrupted views of green scenery. Yet in the old days we always had outlying cattle yards which would be the responsibility of one gaffer and not a pint of diesel was burnt.
It would suit the land better here to have a few smaller cattle sheds dotted about the farm rather than one big shed in the middle with a feeder wagon etc.
The smaller spread out sheds mean the cattle can runout for longer whilst feeding in the shed so better ventilation etc. Feed and bedding can be stored at these outlying sheds at harvest time for quick hand feeding during the winter, and muck is nearer where it's needed. Less machinery needed, less paddling about etc. But the planning system nowadays doesn't like a countryside dotted about with small modern holdings and sheds. It likes big units hidden out of sight and uninterrupted views of green scenery. Yet in the old days we always had outlying cattle yards which would be the responsibility of one gaffer and not a pint of diesel was burnt.