Royal support for Future of Farming
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales has given his support to LEAF’s Future of Farming Week. Taking place this week (March 16-22), LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) has been calling on every farmer in the UK to do at least one thing to help secure the long term future of UK Farming. To mark the week farmers up and down the country have pledged to take small steps that will build into a bigger picture and make a better future for the industry.
In a letter to LEAF, the Prince of Wales said the week would be an opportunity to develop habitats for wildlife, review resource management or even measure agricultural carbon emissions. Pledges made by farmers through the LEAF website (www.leafuk.org/future) have reflected these aims, with others pledging also to promote the positive contribution farming makes to local communities.
Oliver Edwards at Westermill Farm in Exmoor pledged to loan a young pedigree Aberdeen Angus heifer to the farm unit of the West Somerset Community College to help with their stockmanship skills. Rachael Layton, with a hill farm near Llandrindod Wells, has inspired children at local primary schools with the positive aspects of farming through her own free range eggs, due to hatch in school incubators this week. LEAF Marque producer Bill Hammond near Nottingham has progressed plans to open up the farm to visitors on Open Farm Sunday on June 7, to help make consumers more aware of where their food comes from. Rob Kynaston, Shropshire farmer and LEAF vice chairman, has been speaking to a group of secondary school teachers about LEAF and farm visits.
Organisations have made pledges too. The Game Conservancy and Wildlife Trust (GCWT), for example, is building interest in LEAF’s Innovation Centre Day, being hosted at GCWT’s Allerton Project Farm at Loddington, Leicestershire, on May 19. The Arthur Rank Centre, Tenant Farmers Association and Royal Agricultural Society of England have thrown their support behind the Future of Farming Week, pledging to encourage their members to support LEAF and to help secure the future of UK Farming.
"We have received such a lot of support for Future of Farming Week, from all quarters of the industry, for which we are extremely grateful," notes LEAF chief executive Caroline Drummond. "We are particularly pleased by the level of commitment from individual farmers who have pledged to step up to be sustainable, both financially and environmentally, and to be an integral part of their local community.
"I would strongly urge all other farmers to show their support for our industry. Join LEAF and discover the benefits of Integrated Farm Management for your business. Join us and be part of the bigger picture, promoting the positive side of farming to the wider community. You would be surprised at how there are small steps you can take that really can make a big difference to how farming is perceived. And they bring business and personal benefits too."
