politics – Page 6

The Rise of Solar Farming

Recently I learned of a new 60 acre solar development planned for the outskirts of the village I live in. It came as a bit of a shock since there was little (if any!) consultation with the community towards whom the development will have a great effect. Now, on the whole I am a strongContinueContinue reading “The Rise of Solar Farming”

A New Common Agricultural Policy for Europe

I have written before on the prospect of a new CAP for a new era of farming in Europe. The proposed changes were actually published about 6 weeks ago but it has taken a bit of time to sift through everything and really look at who wins and who loses out of this new approach.ContinueContinue reading “A New Common Agricultural Policy for Europe”

Agroecology – a third way?

In farming, as in every other way of life, we have made a critical mistake. It is a mistake of language, assigning linguistic labels to denote ‘methods’ of agriculture and thus discouraging innovation and radical thinking. We can point to and fairly accurately describe ‘conventional’, ‘organic’, ‘biodynamic’, ‘integrated’, ‘intensive’ or ‘extensive’ ‘types’ of farming alongContinueContinue reading “Agroecology – a third way?”

Update on Bovine TB and the UK Badger Cull

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson (shown above) has described Bovine TB as ‘the most pressing animal health problem facing this country’. It has led to the slaughter of more than 28,000 cattle in England in the last year at a cost to the taxpayer of nearly £100 million and it will cost an estimated £1 billionContinueContinue reading “Update on Bovine TB and the UK Badger Cull”

Margaret Thatcher: the Environmentalist?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=aSrBO4_qPzo Thatcher: the ‘Iron Lady’, ‘the first woman Prime-Minister’, ‘the discordant politician’. As I sit here watching the funeral of the first and, as yet, the only woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom I thought it would be interesting to look into her own environmental agenda. Margaret Thatcher was one of the most divisiveContinueContinue reading “Margaret Thatcher: the Environmentalist?”