Louisa Ellins We need land for farming

When you think about the National Trust, what comes to mind?

Probably Cliveden, the Commons at Pinkneys Green and Cookham, or even the flourishing nature reserve at the Brick and Tile Works off Malders Lane.

We’re very lucky to have many sites nearby and I can honestly say membership is great value for money.

The Trust does a brilliant job of caring for houses, gardens and landscapes: preserving history and making these special places accessible to everyone.

Going back to my question, you probably didn’t think about farming.

But with 250-plus hectares (around one thousand square miles), the National Trust is the largest farm landowner in the UK, working with 1,500 tenant farmers.

I have been reading about a worrying trend.

The trust has stopped renewing some active farming tenancies – focusing instead on rewilding the land, including planting some of its promised 20million new trees on fertile farmland.

What’s the problem?

I don’t want to wade into the debate on Brexit that rages weekly in these pages.

But we live in volatile times, and must safeguard our ability to grow our own food here in the UK.

Planting trees on productive farmland – needed for crops – seems irresponsible.

But at the same time, we do need more trees: in the right place one tree can absorb up to a tonne of carbon over its lifetime.

And with many insect and other species in decline, encouraging biodiversity is a good thing.

Every garden will have more, and less, productive areas and farmland is the same.

So surely it makes sense to focus on rewilding the many places where we can’t grow food – widening hedgerows, extending existing woodland, and turning flood-prone corners of fields into ponds. Like many things, it’s all about balance.