Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
While discussing favourite parts of the farm, one farmer focused his observations, and
indeed anger, on one of his neighbour's - the Woodland Trust - lack of action and
illustrated his extreme tidy-ness by passing adverse comments on their policy of allowing
fallen trees to remain on the woodland floor (CF1). The Woodland Trust is a conservation
charity concerned with the protection and sympathetic management of native woodland
heritage. Such fallen dead timber in the food chain becomes resources for other organisms
such as decomposers (bacteria and fungi) thereby ultimately aiding biodiversity, agri-
environmental sustainability and food security. The respondent's tidiness is in line with the
findings shown in Table 3, that more conventional than organic farmers use the words
looking after, care and good condition of their land. He uses words like 'production' to
describe wildlife which is a word that suggests the process of being manufactured,
especially in large quantities, rather than natural processes, thereby further revealing his
technocentric attitudes and criticises his neighbours for their lack of management [shooting]
of woodland 'vermin'. Other conventional respondents emphasised their appreciation of the
isolation and tranquillity of some less accessible parts of their farms. In contrast, two organic
interviewees were very specific about their favourite areas of their farms and focused on
environmental aspects of wildlife sites and the beauty of those habitats thereby
demonstrating their agri-environmental awareness. This discussion has revealed a range of
differences between interviewees' views of their favourite farm parts, which provided
further insights into their agri-environmental attitudes and behaviours by demonstrating
what is important to them.
Discussing least favourite farm parts revealed some similarities and differences in the
attitudes of the respondents. Some conventional interviewees associated the term 'least
favourite' with specific farm problems such as changing his stocking regime from cows to
sheep. Equally pragmatic, OF5 dealt with her problem of a poor quality field by disposing of
it to another local landowner. In contrast, OF1 said that he found almost all parts of his land
pleasing; however, he did comment that his arable fields were the most boring parts of the
farm holding, possibly due to his enthusiasm and focus on his wildlife habitats. This
discussion has shown similarities in the focus of some respondents, such as the practical
approaches of CF1, CF4 and OF5 in dealing with less favoured parts of their farms. In
contrast, OF1 claims to favour all parts of his land thereby suggesting an appreciation of his
farm's biodiversity which, as discussed earlier, is crucial for the sustainability of food
production and food security.
A diverse range of attitudes and behaviours emerged from the farmers' discussions -
whether loosely labelled conventional or organic - when asked to talk about the five related
themes, thereby providing some insight into their agri-environmental perceptions, attitudes
and behaviours relating to biodiversity, sustainability and food security. For example, the
comments of mixed tenant farmer (CF1) revealed his business-like attitude, tidiness and
technocentric nature towards food production and his propensity for hunting. However,
some of his farm behaviours are at variance with his opinions, as exemplified by his
criticism of large fields when he manages the largest, and still growing, farm holding in the
survey. However, it is common for there to be no simple relationship between verbal and
non-verbal indicators of an attitude. Such extremely large fields reduce crop diversification
by relying on planting of monocultures over large areas and reduce biodiversity by
excluding many species which may otherwise have been present. In contrast, mixed tenant
farmer (OF1) has a less tidy approach towards farming and seems to have a more ecocentric
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