tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71837374647913886492023-12-09T07:33:47.267+00:00GM crops, Intensive Industrial Farming and Pesticides.It is our human right to prevent our water, food, air and soil from being polluted-particularly when government legislation promotes pollution of our natural resources.Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-18993265943881589172013-05-26T09:18:00.000+01:002013-05-27T09:26:05.873+01:00
Use of chemicals in Agriculture; how much is necessary.
Despite the fact that bee numbers are declining at an alarming rate, the UK government has tried to scupper the implementation of a two year ban on neonicotinoid pesticides. Research by scientists over recent years has found that the exposure of bees to neonicotinoids has been having a lethal effect on pollinators.
The Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-84499257695344234252013-05-24T10:22:00.001+01:002013-06-05T17:09:34.352+01:00Hazardous orchard spraydrift.Agricultural sprays can present a hazard for walkers, cyclists and horse riders in countryside lanes and roads.
What you can see in this video taken a few days ago, is a chemical spray being blown over a 12 ft high hedge from an orchard. This spray drift is repeated every time the sprayer approaches the road.
The reasons why some farmers ignore the regulations for chemical use on crops is a Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-64590482024755074022010-07-20T16:33:00.018+01:002010-07-20T17:26:59.200+01:00GM crops qualify as invasive threat to wildlife and native plants?GM crop Himalyan BalsamGM crops tick all the boxes....as an "Invasive Species Threat?".(see bullet points below) This is just a thought which occurred to me when reading about non native invasive plants and the threats they pose to wildlife and the habitat.This is International Year of Biodiversity, and in the UK attention has focused on those non-native invasive plants which cause problems for Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-34994605901293111882010-03-10T09:53:00.009+00:002010-03-10T10:27:56.401+00:00Pesticides Consultation? Farmers talk through their booms. In early Chinese tradition the 'human organism is a microcosm of the universe.'- interconnected with our environment, and with the entire ecological system. Unfortunately that's not how our government see things. They prefer treating the natural environment as seperate, unconnected parts to be exploited by different interest groups.One of the macro/micro relationships between humans and our Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-5942582816336182212010-02-09T10:29:00.007+00:002010-02-09T18:14:01.769+00:00Patent the Planet or Food Sovereignty. We're all familiar by now with the fact that GM seeds are designed to be bought new every year, and now this applies increasingly to hybrid seeds. BUT DID YOU KNOW that it is illegal in Europe to swap or sell old seed varieties(heritage seeds) that are no longer registered on any approved lists? So even if you sold at a local market, a small box of saved seeds from your garden, of an old varietyBlatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-41348686068478336542010-01-15T17:43:00.010+00:002010-01-16T10:42:25.328+00:00Biodiversity or Bust.There are many reasons for adopting small-farm agriculture, without pesticides and without GE technology... and to pre-empt those well-worn soundbites of the pro GM lobby it's not about ...'nostalgia or a yearning for a bygone 'green and pleasant land',, it's not about a 'sentimentalised attachment to cuddly animals,and wildlife,' and it's not about an 'idealised or luddite view of pre-industrialBlatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-55186477827185217352009-12-30T16:37:00.007+00:002009-12-30T17:09:22.662+00:00"Good Food For Everyone Forever."In the wake of the Copenhagen Summit earlier this month it’s obviously not a good idea to wait around whilst governments go away and try to devise new realistic and equitable agreements for the next summit....or not. As for agriculture,it looks like our best hope for the future lies with lots of enterprising people getting their heads together, harnessing their expertise, and providing Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-24619955624351580122009-11-16T17:28:00.007+00:002009-11-16T18:14:52.885+00:00From mono-crops to mono-bees. Photos-Native species of bumblebees.THE UK CURRENTLY HAS 24 BUMBLEBEE SPECIES, BUT SYNGENTA ARE BREEDING THEIR OWN FACTORY-FARMED BUMBLEBEES. . WHY?U-turns.Defra and the agri-chem industries are doing a few u-turns on some of their major agricultural strategies. This is since damage to UK topsoil and to the health and survival of our crop pollinators, Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-15625631416109889932009-10-31T14:12:00.004+00:002009-10-31T14:20:57.133+00:00Status of scientific research on honeybees.The UK's chief drugs adviser, Professor Nutt, has hit the news headlines this morning. He was sacked for criticising government policy. More accurately, the Professor has accused the government of using the drug classification system as a tool to send out an anti-drugs message, rather than to rate drugs in terms of actual risk, which the drugs classification system is meant to do. This has Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-71272672496076668512009-10-24T20:36:00.005+01:002009-10-24T20:53:30.304+01:00Hedge Laying in Agriculture.I'm not too keen on the trend in recent years for artists to place their objects/art into landscape, it seems like a random intrusion. The exception though are the works of Richard Long and Andy Goldworthy, who introduced their 'land' or 'earth' art in the eighties.They seemed to have an involvement with the earth's own resources, and explored the natural bonds and tensions that exist in nature. Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-24393800883195048242009-10-05T13:18:00.006+01:002009-10-05T18:50:13.599+01:00Loss of Soil and New UK Strategy. (image)Spreading organic fertilizerTalk about U-turns! Picture the incredulity on Peter Melchett's face (Policy Director for the Soil Association) when he heard Hilary Benn's(Defra Secretary of State) proclamation about the need for a strategy to protect the soil for agriculture. "UK land has been steadily degraded by 200 yrs of intensive farming and industrial pollution, warned the Department Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-24431767430770612072009-08-29T19:57:00.014+01:002009-09-05T09:48:03.645+01:00Globalisation of non-sustainable industrial agriculture.There has been a flurry of pro GM/industrial farming proclamations reaching the media recently, and BLIMEY, SAVE US from that agency designed to protect our health -'The Food Standards Agency'!The FSA has recently published a study, (based on a review of other studies,and carried out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)) saying that their research shows that organic food has 'noBlatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-63259589619604198482009-08-11T10:36:00.007+01:002009-08-11T11:36:23.841+01:00Farmers from across the world met at Dublin Conference. There was an interesting juxtaposition of two articles on page 29 in the Scottish newspaper 'The Press and Journal' on July 29th.Taking up most of the page with three times the column space plus a big photograph of a forage harvester, was an article about Britain's 'agricultural machinary trade body' and its assessment on the economic outlook for farming,as measured through machinary sales. On Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-86474497567944580812009-07-26T10:05:00.002+01:002009-07-26T10:20:21.035+01:00Beautiful,fragile planet.Even whilst international agreements are being made to cut down on carbon emissions, and promote sustainable energy, the UK government is clinging on with white knuckled obstinacy to industrialized agriculture.In sixty years crop yields have risen, but this has been at great cost to the environment, to ecological systems, and to human health. Going hand in hand with the free market economy and Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-8262548895081110612009-07-14T17:33:00.003+01:002009-07-14T17:46:27.097+01:00Reply to a Farmer.Previously I mentioned the blog of Matthew Naylor http://www.fwi.co.uk/blogs/lincolnshire-farming-blog/ where I learned about the limited capacity of the peasantry to absorb knowledge and information about agricultural pesticides. Hi Mr Naylor, I was entertained by your reply and appreciate the inclusion of my blog title on Mouth of the Wash. I look forward to exchanging ideas from across the Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-13244185487942382692009-07-12T09:23:00.009+01:002009-07-15T17:20:35.468+01:00Prior notification of spraying of agri-chemicals.Some time ago I highlighted an article by Matthew Naylor. His comments frequently feature in Farmers Weekly in addition to his own blog, and he generally seems to reflect the ethos of the NFU. For this reason I thought I'd find his views on the consultation called by the NFU to notify neighbours before farmers apply agro chemicals to their crops. It is important to note that the consultation is Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-13734880660824716652009-07-08T09:33:00.003+01:002009-07-08T09:48:01.604+01:00Perversion of Justice.PRESS RELEASE sent out on 7th July 2009 at 10.45amPESTICIDES PUBLIC HEALTH SCANDAL WHITEWASH FOLLOWING BIZARRE COURT OF APPEAL JUDGMENT, AS CAMPAIGNER VOWS TO FIGHT ON TO THE HOUSE OF LORDSAward-winning environmental campaigner, Georgina Downs, who last November won a historic and landmark High Court victory against the Government over its fundamental failure to protect people in the countryside Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-33983986197816754842009-06-22T09:55:00.012+01:002009-06-23T09:13:56.264+01:00Native species of pollinators.."all sprayed-out". In a previous post I attempted to give some reasons (as an unqualified observer) why agricultural pesticides seem to be the common denominator in the story of honeybee decline.Certain pesticides have been proven to be highly toxic to bees, and Peter Melchett of the Soil Association says that "The government prefers to blame 'very wet weather' and 'poor management by less experienced beekeepers' Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-46970017562559222662009-05-25T23:47:00.006+01:002009-05-26T10:28:36.093+01:00Ethics in agribusiness?It probably hasn’t escaped the attention of many that the British Parliament is currently embroiled in an ‘expenses’ scandal. Exposures about individual MP’s expenses claims were leaked to the Telegraph newspaper which is publishing this information by installments and drawing-out the agony for worried MP’s who wonder if they will be the next to be shamed.--( No, I am not digressing from the Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-71445348735390398812009-05-08T12:15:00.019+01:002009-05-09T17:57:45.991+01:00Honeybee decline and facts which DEFRA tries to gloss over. At last the mainstream media seems to have grasped the fact that bee die-offs have serious implications for humanity, and the problem isn't going away.Martha Kearney's documentary on bbc4 last week provided a more in depth analysis than I have seen on the tv before. In the documentary,agricultural pesticides were heavily implicated as a source of the die-offs, but Martha Kearney stopped short ofBlatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-56067689698540109122009-04-25T09:00:00.005+01:002009-04-25T10:48:54.256+01:00Police tried to recruit environmental campaigner to spy.The photos above were taken three years ago on the south coast of Kent, England. They show surveillance of seagulls, beach huts and anyone who might wander onto beach. This morning John OConnor (former commander of Scotland Yard) was interviewed re the police infiltration of environmantal groups. He said they(the police) "have to police everything". Judging by the photos above the police take Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-79106042082503327562009-04-21T07:25:00.012+01:002009-07-16T14:30:17.101+01:00'Taking Charge of who's Destiny?' Agriculture.Blimey!...Question to Mr Naylor..Where are people who live in cities and do not own land expected to get their food if they do not delegate their food needs to farmers and retailers? Personally I think urban allotments are a good idea, but I don't think this is what Mr Naylor was suggesting.(J. -Thanks for the comment on previous post- I tried to trace a link to the article but they seem not to Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-33301230380023850912009-04-14T08:14:00.005+01:002009-04-16T12:40:47.074+01:00At grass roots level people are taking charge of their destiny-agriculture.It was with interest that I read an article by Farmer Mathew Naylor(a Nuffield Scholar) called “Take Charge of your own Destiny.”(I was flipping through an old edition of Farmers Weekly, 23rd Jan.) It seemed a muddled and contradictory piece of writing to me, but in summary I think the message was that those farmers who are used to ‘mastering the elements’ are those who have an ‘Internal Locus ofBlatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-40491710087741422282009-04-07T23:25:00.009+01:002009-04-10T10:24:24.776+01:00International Seeds DayI've just visited Jamblichus's Weblog, and have copied this information(below) from one of his links.... Please visit http://Jamblichus.wordpress.com Below from http://www.ineas.org/events.htm Institute of Near Eastern and African Studies.International Seeds DayOrganizations, activists and people from various professional and linguistic backgrounds will observe April 26 as International Seeds DayBlatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7183737464791388649.post-60994703058755728822009-04-04T11:09:00.010+01:002009-04-06T02:25:23.115+01:00Energy Dependence of Modern Agriculture. Above - fourteen 600kg bags of nitrate. Way back in 1980 Fritjof Capra (physicist) wrote a critique of Western societies overreliance on the ‘scientific method’. He predicted how a reductionist approach, and obsession with economic growth and production was depleting the planet’s natural resources. He even accurately predicted catastrophic climate change through ozone depletion. Not many people Blatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04597826722218587280noreply@blogger.com0