It’s important for farmers to produce food
At last, someone in Government has recognised how important it is for farmers to produce food - for public good. As this column has highlighted countless times, farmers cannot and should not be discouraged from growing crops and raising livestock. Or turn our farms over entirely to nature by rewilding and planting trees, as we are currently being encouraged to do.
We are promised public money for public good, which so far does not include producing food. We can claim funding for entering Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS) including Countryside Stewardship, Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Biodiversity net Gain. (BNG) The latter offsets the carbon footprint of developers by taking land out of commercial production for 30 years.
Even at the extravagant but nebulous
COP 28, and increasingly pointless UN, there is talk about sustainable farming and food production. Someone has realised there are populations out there, many of whom are already going hungry.
Climate change is creating extreme wild weather patterns. Too hot, too wet, or too dry; the wrong weather at the wrong time. The result of which is making farming - food production - increasingly difficult and unpredictable. The answer is certainly not to plant too many more trees in the UK, or rewild valuable fertile farmland. Considering we produce less than one per cent of global CO2 emissions, why are we keen to stop food production and manufacturing?
The Daily Mail last Saturday supported the appeal to raise funds for the Memorial commissioned to commemorate the life of Dame Vera Lynn and all artists who have performed during times of conflict. The superb work designed and created by sculptor Paul Day, whose creations include the Battle of Britain Memorial on London’s embankment, will stand in the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. Sadly, not on the White Cliffs of Dover as was originally intended.
This Memorial will also honour Dame Vera’s late husband Harry and the late Conservative MP Sir David Amess, who was the driving force behind this appeal before he was stabbed to death while holding a surgery in his Essex constituency two years ago.
Dame Vera lived most of her life in Ditchling, she was a Sussex girl, and dearly loved. She was ‘the people’s Dame’. What the article in the Daily Mail did not include with its appeal for donations for this wonderful tribute to these war time entertainers, was the suggestion that those wishing to contribute could donate as little as £1.
Considering the population of Sussex is over 1.4 million, we could make a real contribution towards the target of £1m. £500,000 has already been raised.
To make a donation via:justgiving.com/ campaign/dameveralynnmemorialstatue
Online banking: SORT Code: 23-05-80 Acc No: 41730854 Payee Name: Dame Vera Lynn Memorial statue
Post a Cheque to: The Dame Vera Lynn memorial Statue Fund, Hillcrest House, 84 Valebridge Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 0RP