WHAT WE CAN’T SEE Written by Chris Fellows
Farming is becoming as much about what we can’t see as what we can. We as farmers already know that. Many of the articles in this magazine cover what can’t be seen and the complexity of modern-day sustainable farming. Greenhouse gases in the air can’t be seen, our crops and tramlines can. Soil carbon under the ground can’t be seen, but soil on the road can. Soil microbiology can’t be seen but cover crops can. The carbon footprint of an avocado can’t be seen on its packaging, but our livestock can. Farmers are becoming ever more berated for what can be seen. The public are being told that these visible elements are bad. Livestock are bad. The public don’t even seem to argue that much with this hypothesis, because if agriculture is bad then it takes the spotlight off their own carbon footprint as they board their flights to Ibiza. “look at all that damage being done” they say to their kids, as they drive them the mile to school while picking up a Costa in a disposable cup on the way. The blame game is a distraction for them, one that is very effective. It also damaging, as it stops people from making changes in their own lives that would make a difference to the planet. The truth is we all need to make changes, not just say we are doing the right thing or carry on taking private jets and then just saying you have bought an offset.
what is clear, livestock are part of a closed loop farm, therefore the simple statement that a vegan lifestyle will save the planet is wrong in my eyes. However, perception will only change if the public start to appreciate farming for what can’t be seen. As these are our silver bullets, the truth behind the myths that are propagated in the media and online. This is the battle of perception we face. I toyed with whether to use the word battle, but the more I think about it, the more I think we are at war. If you look at the massive money institutions behind processed food and lab grown meat, it’s a battle that we are doomed to lose unless some action is taken to educate consumers.
We need to define our bullets and start to repeat them enmasse. Henry Dimbleby’s National Food Strategy is our first bullet. He has said that processed food is the enemy of health. That ultra-processed food needs taxing, heavily. It causes long term health problems and just like cigarettes needs taxing at an
appropriate level to the damage it is causing. The unhealthiest food on offer in a shop should not also be able to be the cheapest. The healthiest options should be the cheapest, preferably then priced by distance from where things are grown to the shop they are sold in. Meat substitutes are generally classed as ultra-processed food. Whereas there is not going to be a meat tax, which is good as sustainably grown meat is better for the diet of the general public (and their carbon footprint) than often the media portray. Second bullet is being local. The UK has a very robust climate, day to day our weather is unpredictable, but year to year, we are in a better position than many countries to keep farming and even increase the list of products we grow as climate changes and the planet’s climate changes. In June this year, researchers created a “shortlist” of five nations most likely to survive the apocalypse. The UK was ranked 3rd and Ireland 5th. The number one criterion was how much land is being used for farming compared to the population. Our climate, regardless of the changes we will see in the next 50 years will remain very suitable for
We as farmers know livestock aren’t bad per se. CAFO’s in the states certainly aren’t the way livestock is going to be raised in a sustainable future, but livestock, in a rotation with crops, grass or other animals can be a very effective way to generate a closed loop farm that requires the minimum of inputs and creates the maximum of financial output. Read “Dirt to Soil” by Gabe Brown, if you want to understand closed loop farming better, he explains it far better than I could in a short paragraph. But
18 DIRECT DRILLER MAGAZINE
ISSUE 15 | OCTOBER 2021
