German arable farmer Christian Myer reckons UK farmers are
telling the public a much better story about land and environmental
management than his colleagues back home.
Visiting Cereals 2007 with German Agricultural Society
DLG, Mr Myer was
impressed by the PR farmers were creating around the protection of
birds, bees and other wildlife and how the new environmental
schemes were being used to tell the public about farmers’
contribution to countryside conservation.
“Farmers are clearly far more pro-active about conservation in
England and particularly in telling the public what you are doing.
We have to comply with rules to create protection areas around
watercourse and ponds, but the extra strips around hedgerows and
the emphasis on protecting birds, bees and other wildlife is very
interesting. It is a way for farmers to improve their image and we
are not doing that in Germany.”
Mr Myer, who farms 1600 ha in Westphalia, was over with a group
promoting Agritechnica
2007, the World’s No 1 Agricultural Machinery and Innovations
Exhibition, to be held in Hanover from November 13th to 17th.
