Farming is seen as an easy target for the ills of the world - Yorkshire Post Letters

Well said GP Taylor. You have hit the nail bang on the head. You have said what many thought but hadn't the guts to say.

Farming seems to be perceived as an easy target and a let out for the ills of the world; from the ill-conceived Brexit plan which I am sure was designed and intended to import the major part of our food from America and the Antipodes to the unbelievably complex ELMS scheme which I have just attempted to re-read while our 2023 harvest deteriorates in our sodden fields.

The ELMS scheme appears to be designed by academics and eco-zealots who don't appear to fully understand how farming and the countryside works. The scheme is far too complex for the average independent, hardworking farmer to complete. The rewards are minimal. It will certainly require the help of land agents and advisors.

In all the minutiae of the scheme they have failed to understand the basic concepts of soil quality and carbon storage. That is provision of an efficient and up to date drainage scheme. This, in my view, is a heinous omission from the scheme and illustrates the single minded obsession with re-wilding and re-wetting the countryside with barely any reference to the production of food.

We are a small island and very mistakenly have relied on the importation of gas and oil and the catastrophic consequences have been felt by everyone. This has left us perilously disadvantaged and If we do not support our indigenous agriculture the same fate will apply to our food supply.

The adaptation of the ELMS scheme appears to be designed for the vast farming estates and farming empires, which believe it or not are the same people who were criticised for receiving far too much from The European Scheme.

I would urge that politicians take note of Mr Taylor's article and adopt a good sound common sense attitude to the countryside.

The Government's monetary contribution to farmers and growers is miniscule in comparison to the many millions squandered throughout our land. Food is the life blood of the nation and should be of significant priority to our leaders.

Farmers will always make it their priority to safeguard their main asset, their soils and the environment surrounding them. However, to do so they must have sufficient financial support to ensure that this is done properly. This presently is not the case.

Without an adequate food supply life for the people of this country could become incredibly more difficult in our unstable world.

GP Taylor is correct when he states that the Government's obsession for net zero by 2050 is absurd. By importing our food and resources we are simply exporting the problem to other countries. A typical politician's mathematical and political fix but in no way a solution.