The COP conference in Glasgow has, in my opinion, taught us that our governments are too slow to move to avoid the inevitable climate crisis that’s on the horizon. So, I’m afraid it’s up to us! The answer is simple but the reality is much harder, we have to stop digging up and burning the carbon (gas, coal and oil) that plants have removed from the atmosphere over millennia to fuel our cars, planes, factories and power stations.
We can all cut our own carbon foot print, we can use the car less, buy less stuff that we really don’t need and (my personal favourite) why does anyone ever need to use an aeroplane?!
Farmers can do their bit too, and it may be easier for them than many other businesses to do. As well as emitting carbon from our tractors, cows and inputs we can also lock away carbon (known as sequestering) into our trees, hedges and soil if management is correct.
Our way of farming here means that we probably sequester similar amounts of carbon to what we emit, and this is something we need to get more data on.
After Christmas I’m hoping to have a little more time on my hands so I’ll be able to get cracking on some of my long list of conservation projects. I’ve got lots of hedge laying to do, some will need to be coppiced and allowed to regrow before being laid. Laying a hedge makes it much thicker at the base and a far better habitat for nesting birds.
On the winter jobs list is also the addition of some leaky dams. These are, as the name implies, dams that allow water through but in times of heavy rain hold back water or displace it onto a flood plain. I think farmers like us who are right at the top of our river catchment (we are at the top of the river Ray which flows through west Swindon before entering the Thames near Castle Eaton) have a duty to do what they can to store water and reduce the chance of downstream areas flooding.
