Farmer Focus: Made to become park ranger or factory worker

Nature farming, are they not two different things? In farming, we are at best distorting nature to achieve our goal of producing food, and at worst, removing it completely. At least, this is what we are often told.

As farmers, our roles are twofold: one of a food producer and the other of a land manager. It could be argued that, currently, the balance of our roles is tipped to the side of the land manager.

The government, public and even the market are putting emphasis on this role. Most farming incentives are now in this vein, and our green credentials are being measured constantly to meet this demand.

See also: Herbal leys help halve nitrogen fertiliser use for wheat

About the author

Charlie Cheyney

Arable Farmer Focus writer Charlie Cheyney farms more than 480ha land in Hampshire in partnership with his father. They run a mixed arable and 450-cow dairy enterprise, growing cereal and forage crops on varying soils, from chalk to heavy clay.

Read more articles by Charlie Cheyney

For farming to be successful, I believe there must be a true balance between these two roles.

But is this balance a thing of the past? Will there be a decoupling of these roles, where a farm can either be a rewilded park, or a food-producing factory? By trying to achieve both, are we at risk of not achieving either?

This is somewhat already the case, especially in the livestock sector. Pigs and poultry are already highly intensified and often not linked with any land. So, therefore, could the rest of agriculture follow?

We all know populations are growing and feeding them is a major challenge. This, coupled with soaring land values and more profitable land uses compared to farming, makes intensification of farms seem a given.

Farming skyscrapers aren’t what immediately comes to mind when you think of farming with nature, but as technology advances, greenhouses and vertical farms become more attractive options.

Not to mention being isolated from uncontrollable entities such as weather, which in a season like this is tempting.

Vertical farms are said to achieve 50-100 times better yields in a more resource-efficient way, while allowing land to be given back to “nature” (minus the few acres of concrete farms, of course).

I’m not sure I am ready to give up on my idealistic patchwork countryside and trying to achieve the perfect balance.

What’s more, I don’t know which job I want, that of the park ranger or of the factory worker.