Landwards Summer 2021
Book Club The wider picture
Farming is relearning what it forgot The agricultural sector is returning to knowledge from more than a century ago, but with updated science and technology, says a co-author of The Agricultural Notebook. Readers of a certain age will have fond memories of ‘Primrose McConnells Agricultural Notebook’, in fact the editor still has the 18th edition on the shelf behind him. The Notebook, which is widely regarded as ‘the Bible’ for every agricultural student, farmer and industry professional, was first 28
published more than 130 years ago. But its current co-author, Richard Soffe, emeritus fellow at Duchy & Bicton Colleges’ Rural Business School, says that for the latest 21st edition, he found himself revisiting Notebooks from the 1800s. “We looked back at old editions and found things that as an industry we’d
forgotten and that are now coming back full circle – it’s quite amazing really,” says Mr Soffe. “In the 1800s, for example, farmers knew the importance of grasslands being made up of lots of different species; the latest edition reflects the fact that we’ve started to increase the mixes in grasslands and herbal leys.”
