The grass isn’t always greener for farmers
THERE was some indignation last week when a celebrity called for New Zealand farmers to stop growing grass for their cows and start growing well, “grass” of a different sort.
It would appear the country may be considering decriminalising cannabis – and it was reported in the Kiwi papers Richard Branson had suggested farmers should grow this rather than turning more land over to dairying.
Environmentalists have claimed dairying is having a negative impact on the country’s rivers, which have always been considered pristine and unpolluted, in the land of the long, white cloud.
Reports said Branson urged New Zealand to legalise, grow, tax and regulate cannabis – and although it is currently illegal to grow, import, sell, possess, or use it in New Zealand, he believed marijuana could be as acceptable as merlot wine in 10 years time.
He said growing this as a crop would be as profitable as dairying and help reduce some of the damaging effects the huge increase in cow numbers for milk production was having on the country’s rivers.
Needless to say there was a fair bit of huffing and puffing in some quarters that such a move should even be contemplated, let alone suggested.
And I would guess quite a few farmers would argue it was a sin to waste some of the best land in the world producing something which didn’t help feed a growing global population.
But we in Scotland might be standing on pretty thin ice if we made too much of this.
Now, I’m not suggesting we’re involved in illicit weed production or challenging the Colombian drug lords for a share of their particular market.
But despite doing nothing illegal, there’s no getting away from the fact that a fair lump of Scotland’s cropping land is used to produce one of the biggest recreational drugs around.
And what’s more we export it all over the world.
I’m talking about booze. And a large proportion of the barley which farmers have been busy sowing over the past week or so will be destined to be made into whisky and beer – and much of the wheat we grow is also destined for the distillers.
And while it might be entirely legal, it’s worth remembering alcohol is probably still the root cause of more fights, accidents, addictions and marital break-ups than any other drug.
Makes you think ...