Hope for the Lappinch

At the heart of our philosophy on the farm is that you can successfully balance modern agriculture with conservation.

The reality of course is that this is a just pleasing aspiration for us on our small little farm. For the world as a whole however, it is an imperative, being the only possible way to balance the needs of a growing population for reasonably nutritious food at a reasonably affordable price, with the equally important need for conservation and biodiversity. While rewilding certainly has its place, and an important and inspiring one at that, only by combining the best of modern agricultural practices with a common sense approach to conservation do I think we have a realistic chance of reconciling these two fundamentally important objectives. It is in this context that the two pictures above give me enormous hope that it really can be done – a healthy field of winter wheat, next to equally healthy and vibrant field margins, quite literally buzzing with insects and wildflowers.