FLAILING AND FAILING WILDLIFE

In September, my husband and I visited family in rural Suffolk and were horrified to see hedges full of berries and seeds being flailed back. What is the wildlife supposed to eat? We are told that farming is working with nature to stop the decline of many species but this practice seems to be doing the very opposite.

Our daughter told us that a few weeks before, a bank covered in primroses was scraped out. Why couldn’t the farmer advertise the fact that he had to do this (if indeed he HAD to) so that the wildflowers could have been transported to a safe place?

B Gissing, via email