Farmers need to decide what action to take

摘要

First let me state that I am not a farmer. However, courtesy of a farmer friend, I am a regular reader of Farmers Weekly. Page after page deals with politics; and it is clear to me that the politics are not designed to help the farmer. Far from it: they seem to make life and farm survival more difficult.At the same time, the direction of travel is clearly changing so that farmers are being encouraged to diversify away from farming. Use the land for growing trees and receive a guaranteed income for not producing food; sell the land for housing and walk away; create a solar farm or turn it into a recreational space.Is this just a UK phenomenon? Not in the least. Your readers may be familiar with the experience of the Dutch farmers. They are able to produce an enormous amount of food per capita, and much of it below sea level. Surely the Dutch government is backingits farmers all the way? No! They are trying to make the industry as impossible as they can, even resorting to compulsory purchase of farms.