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Thursday, April 16, 2020 31 Planting a problem A RECENT report from the Natural Capital Committee urges caution over plans to plants huge numbers of trees, saying that planting them in the wrong place will cause more harm than good. Planting trees on peat, for example, would cause the peat to dry out and release more carbon than the trees absorb. Covering the uplands with trees would also reduce our capacity to produce meat, which might lead to greater imports from countries that produce beef by felling rain forest. Sheep milk collapse THE coronavirus lockdown has caused a collapse in sheep milk production, according to the British Sheep Dairying Association. Much of the milk is processed into cheese and yoghurts and sold through restaurants, pubs, farm shops, delicatessens and markets, most of which have closed. Many of the producers have ceased production, some after 25 years. The normal response would be to produce milk powder that can be stored and exported once international trade resumes, but there is no plant in the UK. Pollution levels fall AIR pollution has declined dramatically during the coron- avirus lockdown, with traffic on our road down to 1950s levels. The sky is clearer and emissions of greenhouse gases are far lower. The one thing that has not changed however is farming, indeed there has been a rush of activity since the rains stopped and soils have dried. This gives a unique opportunity to assess exactly farming’s contribution to pollution.

NEWBURY NEWS COUNTRY MTATER

Newbury Weekly News

High price of Covid-19 outbreak Cancellation of events and a shortage of fruit and veg pickers could hit rural economy

COUNTRY MTATERS by ANDREW D AVIS

another six or seven for the season. In the current circumstances, they will not be coming, another reason why production has been scaled back. This shortage of labour reverberates throughout the food chain. The asparagus season is upon us and yet there is a serious shortage of pickers. A report in the Sunday Times highlighted Andrew Brice, a farmer in Kent who grows 50 acres of asparagus. Without skilled pickers, usually coming from Bulgaria and Romania, he may have to leave the crop to rot in the field. Not only will that lead to a shortage of asparagus, a delicious harbinger of spring and early summer, but will cost him some £900,000 of income. Next will come soft fruit, strawberries and raspberries and summer vegetables. There are a total of around 90,000 jobs, some duplicated, in the harvest of fruit and vegetables in the country. The latest estimate is that 80,000 are still unfilled. As reported on this page a fortnight ago, a call went out for a modern-day Land Army of British students, those unemployed or on furlough to fill the void. Initially there were 10,000 applicants but, once the Chancellor introduced his measures to help those disadvantaged by the pandemic, takers have dried up. As long as the restrictions remain in force, it seems unlikely that the situation will improve. In any case, large numbers of pickers staying in bunkhouses may not be the best way to prevent infection, despite the fresh air and exercise. Perhaps the cancellation of events such as Wimbledon and Ascot will ofset any shortages of strawberries! Imports of fruit and vegetables must also be vulnerable to the lockdown in countries such as Spain, so it seems inevitable that there will be shortages this summer just when we need fresh produce to help us stay healthy.

The farming column and Countyr Matters articles are written by Andrew Davis, who welcomes suggested topics for coverage. He can be contacted on (01635) 564526, or email: editor@ newbuyr news.co.uk

nicolachester.wordpress.com/ Twitter @nicolawriting or email her at nicolawriting@gmail.com WITH what Dylan Thomas called ‘the force that through the green fuse drives the flower’, spring advances anyway. Two swallows zip through the farmyard and are gone, to some remembered beacon further north, snipping up the air as they go. A small dust-devil whips up behind them, as if, for all the world, they caused it. A narrow, spinning vortex of dust, grit- in-the-eye, chaff and a weathered crisp packet, whirls up and then dissipates into a hiss and absolute silence. I descend the hard set-ruts into the woods. The tractor-tyre chevrons, pressed into the wet chalk paste of February have hardened to a concrete crust that might last into summer. The green fuse has pushed the subtle, beaded flowers of dog’s mercury out, as well as the furled flags of cuckoo pint, above their spotted leaves. Were we ever so close to it all? Have we ever paid this much attention to noticing? I like to think so, but it was likely long ago. I love the contrasting colourways of THE coronavirus pandemic is having a significant impact on all of us, economic and social. While those us who live in the countryside may have more access to open space and exercise, the rural economy is subject to the same constrictions as that of our towns and cities. Country sports, for example, provide substantial income to the rural economy and form the social focus of many rural communities. The economic impact will be af r-reaching and may take a long time to recoup. The hunting season may be over, but this is the height of the point-to-point season, all cancelled. On Easter Monday, crowds normally flock to Lockinge for the Old Berks Hunt point- to-point, as they do to others across the country. At this time of year, it is somewhat dependent upon the weather; one year there was horizontal snow and the gate was understandably reduced. Other years have been warm and sunny and a huge number of people enjoy the stunning downland landscape and the party atmosphere. Many hunts are dependent on a good income from their point-to-points to cover their overhead costs through to next season. Then there are the social gatherings, all part of the income stream. The Game Fair, usually held over the last weekend in July, has already been put back

A surplus of eggs could be one consequence of the coronavirus outbreak

to September and there must be a doubt whether it will take place then. Numerous agricultural shows have been cancelled, while many villages rely on their summer fetes to raise moneyofr the church or other community projects. Once the shooting season finished on February 1, planning starts for the following year. Most commercial shoots hope for repeat business, thus filling the slots for next season. They ask for a deposit with the order to create cash flow and they can then order the poults from a game farm to be delivered in July or August, again with a deposit. The problem this year, of course, is that there is a serious risk of next season not happening or at least not starting on time. This applies particularly to the grouse season that opens on the Glorious Twelfth of August. Not that grouse are reared and released, but populations need managing and too many birds as a result of no shooting leads to an increase in the disease pressure.

In the derelict hazel coppice, the blue- bell’s honey-scent mingles with stronger, heady, cherry laurel blossom that, along with western red cedar, crowds out and shades the bluebells, closes the canopy, blocks the light. Still, they persist. A light breeze weaves through the wood and there is the faint squeak of jostled bluebell stems and the squeal of hazel poles grown too thick for coppicing. Orange-tip butterflies tumble over garlic mustard and I am absorbed, watching a furry, ginger, bee-fly insert the long, sharp-looking (but harmless) straw of its proboscis into the creamy churns of white dead nettle flowers (that also, do not sting). I nip one of the blossoms between thumb and forefinger, and tip its flask on to my tongue, for a drop of sweet nectar. By the time I am home, there are four swallows twittering over the house. The clustered white stars of windflowers, or wood anemones, tremble in an imperceptible breeze. I resisted picking the first one I saw, weeks ago, to tuck into my collar, to ward off spring fever. And so we wait, while spring moves at walking pace up the country, overtaking us; leaving us to study each plant, each nest-hole and separate each birdsong, re- learning patience, stoicism and wonder, waiting to see what happens next. Understandably, some guns are reluctant to pay a non-refundable deposit when there is no guarantee that their shoots will take place. That leaves the shoot with a dificult decision of how many poults to order. Anecdotal evidence suggests that orders are down by perhaps 50 per cent. That turns the pressure on to the game farm – how many eggs should they incubate to produce chicks? It may be that the restrictions are relaxed by August when there could be a huge late demand for poults. I spoke to one local game farm that is cutting back production this year. One resultant problem is what to do with the spare eggs? In a normal season, they could be sold to local pubs and restaurants, into the catering trade, but with a combination of closed pubs and restaurants and a big er surplus, that is unlikely to happen. The other issue is labour. This particular game farm has five Polish workers all year round, but takes on

Spring erupts into a flowering inferno NATURE NOTES by NICOLA CHESTER ............................................. Contact Nicola at: https:// and their yellow archangel companions. There is a lavender haze washing through the wood where there was just a hint of it the day before.

White dead nettle

primrose and dog violet best – that particular butter-cream, lemon-yellow with parma-violet mauve. They are delightfully vintage colours that, were I a dress designer, I’d make my spring-print signature. It is a colourway complemented by china-blue wood forget-me-not with its yolk-yellow and white centres, and in the sudden emergence of bluebells overnight

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