Before the
end of October the world will have more than 7 Billion people. Each day the
total population grows an extra 200,000. Each year an extra 80million! This is
a major issue & there are serious questions about whether there will be
sufficient food available. There is precious little good quality soil available
for cropping & already energy crops are competing for available land area
with food production. Another really difficult concern is the availability of
good quality fresh water. Agriculture is already the major user of water &
in some countries the water table has fallen dramatically partly due to climate
change & partly due to excessive draw off for crops.
In the UK UK
Having recently visited Utah
& Arizona which are mainly alpine deserts,
California which has a very serious shortage
of water & Australia
where the vast area of the Centre Red has neither the soils nor the climate for
highly productive agriculture….you start to realise how fortunate we are here
in Britain
Do the
British really understand that favoured position or really appreciate our good
luck in having such precious productive soil? Do the British appreciate the
value & massive wealth we have within the topsoil…..it’s called Soil
Organic Matter. Does the Government or Cabinet in any way indicate policies
that encourage agriculture? Why isn’t agriculture leading the economic recovery
because our farmers are certainly capable of an export food driven recovery? In
fact if you look at the world we in Britain
Instead of
positive export driven policies we have ridiculous changes to planning laws
being proposed to “boost development & ramp up the housing industry”???? I
have no qualms with making planning simpler but to have a “presumption of
development” & to allow further development of Greenfield
Why is there
not an insistence that the inner cities be built up & not out? Cities like
Cardiff & Melbourne, Australia have very successfully revitalised the CBD
by bringing high rise apartments back into the central city. Neither UK
Throughout
the UK Greenfield
The
Government says there are adequate safeguards to protect valued sites &
sustainable housing. This is absolute rubbish.
In our village a new development
has been pushed through planning even though the village was totally against
what was being proposed. The local council was terrified of the possible legal
costs if the planning was not approved. So what are the safeguards?
What I can
not understand is that the proposed changes are supported by the NFU. Why on earth
would the National Farmers Union support reforms that will put housing on top
of our precious agricultural land. Every pasture based dairy farmer tries to
fully utilise his or her farm to its potential for annual pasture growth &
grazing by dairy cows.
I think the
topsoil in UK
Pasture growth Slowing dramatically as soil temps fall & daylight hours reduce. Some long awaited rain in Midlands but too late.
TheAverage Pasture Cover (kgsDM/ha) & Pasture Growth
(kgsDM/ha/day)
Hereford AFC 2310, growth 23, demand 25, grazed 46% of farm since 1st Oct
Dorset, AFC 2270, Growth 20
Hereford, Well Done the ABs!
Ireland, Great match. Well Done ABs!
Brittany, France, It's a theft! So Close.
Brittany, France, Un match magnifique!
Taranaki NZ, Exhausted watching...shouldnt have been but good result!
Waikato, NZ, Bit too close for comfort very lucky to win.
