farmer hill:
Dont let them have farms!
theres enougph idiots in the countryside that have come from citys and ruened it!
for our sake keep them out!
That's a fair reaction but misguided I think. If people from cities really do want to farm, and make a decent try at it (realistically probably smallholding rather than full-time farming) they'll find how much hard work, skill and knowledge it requires. Assuming they keep some contact with their city friends, passing on this information by word of mouth is very much to the advantage of farmers and the countryside: the overriding problem we have at the moment is that most of the population are woefully ignorant of the countyside, and get most of their information from animal rights pressure groups, Georgina Downes clones etc. who the BBC seem to love.
Some in the present government have an agenda of trying to destroy farming in England as revenge for Margaret Thatcher destroying coal mining. However, I think the more common reason for their apalling handling of countryside matters is pure and simple ignorance. Eliot Morley comes to mind as a rather unpleasant example who has recently got his come-uppance, and while I don't have any personal gripe with Jane Kennedy, she must be about as ignorant of farming and the countryside as it's possible to be, and even if she learns fast, she will probably be fed lies and propaganda by various urban based organisations.