The truth can be cutting

DR ALAN MARR is distressed and perplexed by the start of the hedgecutting season (Letters, September 27). Farmers have many miles of hedgerows to trim every year at a considerable sunk cost in both time and money. They are also obliged—for no reward—to trim along the lanes and roadsides, the more so now that local authorities seem to have abandoned that duty.

Cutting is restricted to September through March, but, for much of that time, the ground is too wet for machinery, especially as winter wears on, so, given the limited opportunity, it’s understandable that farmers and contractors make as early a start as possible. We may all agree that flail cutting is a brutal process, but with so much to be done in so little time, it is, unfortunately, the best option.

Peter Bickley, Monmouthshire