Farming

View from Blacka over farmland to the east.

Following this post I am asked what have I got against farming and farmers? I suspect the questioner is being disingenuous and probably understands my position very well, but let's take it at face value.

Why do I say I want Blacka ....

"Free from farming, from farm animals, from farm fences and gates, from intrusive farm practices and management, from farm vehicles"

It's a fair question. I've worked on a farm and spent happy times on farms. But there's an assumption I don't accept that all countryside must be farmed and that none should be allowed to go wild partially or completely. I've lived during a period when much of our countryside has been given over to increasingly industrialised farming - a process which has done much to ruin it not just for wildlife but also for the informal enjoyment local people got from it. In recent years I've climbed to the summit of hills and looked down on fields where no hedges remain, growing one crop as far as the eye can see. I've seen farmyards which used to have dutch barns tidily kept but where now it's all shiny black plastic storage. I see farmers who once upon a time used to walk around their farms but now wouldn't dream of going a hundred yards without a tractor or quad bike powered by red diesel.

Farming is now industrialised and therefore believes there's no point in being 'sentimental'. If that's so then it must accept that we don't want it everywhere in every square yard of our countryside.

So back to the original question. At a Blacka Moor RAG meeting I said I didn't want farm livestock on Blacka. A woman with a farming background said "But there are farm animals all over the countryside." My reply was "That's an excellent reason for not having them here."