The farmland around Rye is filling up with the famous Romney sheep, as they return from their winter holidays. It’s traditional, as well as a requirement from Natural England, for the sheep to leave the marsh ground over the winter once the grass stops growing.
The lambing season is just starting and, although we are in for a gruelling few weeks of work with calving, lambing and planting crops, I feel this year we are also the lucky ones not to be cooped up with the Covid-19 restrictions.
I have the freedom of several hundred acres of land, with plentiful amounts of fresh air and exercise, plus the added bonus of been completely isolated from the world’s population.
As a livestock farmer we have not only had to endure the constant rain for the last few months, but also the serious abuse from militant vegans and Extinction Rebellion which does question why we bother to do the job.
These pressure groups might have tried to hoodwink the gullible people to believe that it was livestock that was ruining the planet, but locking down the world to aeroplanes and industry has proved how wrong they have been.
The change in satellite images of pollution has been astounding over the last few weeks; let alone seeing the huge reduction in carbon dioxide. All without reducing the population of cows and sheep! Let’s hope people remember this when we eventually emerge from this current unprecedented crisis.
So for the first time in my life I have witnessed supermarkets with empty shelves of food and have seen the results of people’s fears of going hungry. Maybe farming will get the respect back that it had when food was rationed and constantly in short supply.
Bizarrely though, even though the shops are short of food, the price we are paid for our produce has been considerably reduced since the crisis started. That’s the power of the supermarket buyers!
So while life on the farm has changed little in this crisis, we do feel desperately sorry for the predicament that other businesses in Rye are enduring. We really need to forget globalisation when we eventually beat Covid-19 and actually support local trades and businesses. Stay safe and good luck.
Image Credits: Simon Wright .
Dear Farmer Wright
Thank you , and all those too frequently unsung heroes of Britain’s farming community ,
very, very much indeed for all your relentlessly noble, hard work throughout the year and
all weathers, fair and foul, in not only feeding the many not the few ; but also delighting us all with the immensely uplifting sight and sound of livestock across the land .
Particularly out on the marsh,
the Romneys and their lambs
make one’s heart sing.
I agree wholeheartedly about
the mistake of globalisation ,
and pray the UK’s farmers will
once again supply the majority
of the nation’s food ( and indeed,
wine ), and properly rewarded .
One has only to observe the sky high halos of hypocrisy worn by so many devotees of XR/Vegan mania to see these movements
have been fuelled by a profit-driven tech giants and media
without fully exploring the science.
With Kind Regards, and very many thanks again to you and yours , and farming folk all ,
A.Bacon
PS Rye News – May I take this opportunity to respectfully
remind local dog walkers, however well-trained their
dogs might be, to please keep
out of any fields with sheep in during the lambing season ?
While sheep work well with
their owners sheep dogs, all other dogs represent danger,
the stress of which , sadly , will
often cause pregnant ewes to
miscarry , as well as abandon
new born lambs to the crows.
Thank you.
Dear Simon,
Although you have clearly come across some unpleasantness – there are nasty people everywhere – there is no essential and inherent anti-farming bias in Extinction Rebellion. There are a lot of vegetarians and vegans sure, but there are also people who for example feel that eating meat is OK, but it should be reared with higher standards than currently prevail, smaller scale, not transported vast distances etc. The idea of supporting local farmers I think is something that most people in XR would agree with. Farming is essential. Farming can also be adversely affected by climate change and there is an active group within XR on this https://www.facebook.com/groups/XRfarmers.
For me, right by my workplace you can buy half a chicken and chips for £2.99 at multiple outlets (at least you could when shops were open). I can’t believe thats good for the farmer, the chicken or even the person that eats it in the long run.