Subsidy Farming

A chunk from Matthew Parris's recent article in The Times. Very relevant to the way that SWT manage the Sheepcrap enclosure at Blacka as well as the cow grazing on the "heathland".

I know a bit about the CAP’s basic payment scheme as I qualify for its benefits and am about as deserving of this charity as the Duke of Westminster, although on a different scale. The ownership of more than five hectares of land (I have less than six) entitles me to more than a thousand pounds a year of taxpayers’ money on the grounds that I let a friend run sheep on this rough, boggy and unimproved grassland. No account is taken of my already ample income; no thought is given to whether devoting land like this to grazing is something the state should be subsidising. Were I to plant more trees, or turn our marsh into ponds for wildlife, I would cease to qualify.

It's not about wildlife or nature, it's about money. The enclosure here is about 30 hectares. Parris is one of the more honest of (ex) politicians and usually worth reading.