Yesterday I returned to the Cotswolds after a sojourn to the Black Mountains and the Hay Festival (and an unfortunate brief stop on the A417 as a result of car problems). The occasion was to attend rural commentator Rob Yorke's discussion panel event at Hay which was themed around ‘rewilding’ (quite a popular subject for … Continue reading Searching for Common Ground in Rewilding at the Hay Festival
At the Rewilding Dorset event a few weeks ago I was able to speak to Professor Paul Jepson from Oxford University who gave a presentation on the day about the need to link rewilding to the policy agenda, if it is to gain any real traction in the future. Earlier this week Paul released a … Continue reading Moving towards a Rewilding Policy
I have now added an 'upcoming events' page to thinkingcountry following a request to do so. Hopefully some of you will find this a useful tool for finding events, conferences, seminars and workshops of interest. They are a mix of food/farming, conservation and environment themed events. I will keep the list updated as often as I … Continue reading New ‘Upcoming Events’ Page
With just over a month to go now until voters go to the polls for the EU membership referendum it seems sensible to overview what is going on within the farming industry in terms of opinion. On the face of it, for many, exiting the EU might seem like utter madness in the short term. … Continue reading Brexit: A key question for this farming generation.
A few weeks ago I gave a coursework presentation with a few fellow student colleagues at the RAU on the subject of the neonics moratorium in Europe, the implications it has had for farmers and crucially how they have adapted their practice. As part of the research process we were approached by a number of … Continue reading Latest Neonics Derogation Application Rejected
The rewilding fraternity seems to have gathered its main focus thus far around making a case for upland landscapes as the most likely or suitable hosts for rewilding projects. The more productive and urbanised lowlands feature less in the debate. One could say that there are many logical economic and ecological reasons for this. Nonetheless, … Continue reading Pondering the Prospects for Lowland Rewilding – some reflections on the Rewilding Dorset conference
May is set to be a very busy month with conferences, exams, final bits and pieces of coursework as I enter the final stages of my agriculture postgrad at the Royal Agricultural University and various other commitments. I apologise in advance therefore if thinkingcountry posts are slightly less frequent over the next few weeks! Nonetheless, … Continue reading A Busy month and ‘Farming Today’ in a tent in Bristol
