A Farm for the Future BBC2

neckiep · Post by **neckiep** » 22 Feb 2009, 20:43

On the subject of farming and the BBC, has anyone noticed how cold the transition town storyline has become on the Archers?

2 As and a B · Post by **2 As and a B** » 22 Feb 2009, 20:50

marknorthfield wrote:I've just been reading through the comments on FFTF and noticed the following message:

'Yes, I couldn't help noticing a lot of entries on this thread (about half) are from first-time posters lobbying for follow-up material to be aired.

My advice, if the intent is to influence future BBC programmes on the subject, would be to contact the Beeb directly - by email for example - since the Beeb takes virtually no notice of what's said on these Messageboards.'

The other way of looking at it is that we didn't think it worth commenting negatively on the menu of mostly mindless trash that the Beeb normally serves up, preferring the remote or off switches instead.

But I'm sure we are outnumbered by the East Enders / Find a Wanabe / Celebs Doing Something They're Not Very Good At fans.

A first time poster.

Tim Green · Post by **Tim Green** » 22 Feb 2009, 20:52

Hi guys thanks so for bothering with messageboard, i can assure it's not in vain, not at all, it's brilliant.
Because I've sent a link to it to our big white chief a saying "have you seen what people are saying you need to do more on this subject." and he'll sent it up the food chain.

Reading down through the comments I recognize a few of them, there are a couple of our featured growers and even Jeremy leggett ( I think) bless him!! :)

Anyway thank you all so much,

best wishes

Rebecca

Neily at the peak · Post by **Neily at the peak** » 22 Feb 2009, 23:13

I agree it was great to see this programme. I intend to persuade some of my farming friends to record the repeat. I am not sure that the "evidence" of the dead field stacks up though. As a farmers son and former agronomist, I can honestly say there are some days when the birds follow the plough and others when they just don't with no obvious logic attached to it, as for ploughing and sunlight actually killing the soil, this could be where it will lose some credibility as the issue is much more complex than that.

Great film overall, keep up the good work Tim and Rebecca

Neil

Tim Green · Post by **Tim Green** » 23 Feb 2009, 00:33

absolutely Neil, as someone on here already pointed out, all was simplified to the limit.
For example we didn't fully cover....
Fordhalls permanent pasture and it's complexity of perennial grasses, times of grazing, head of stock
soil nutrition, the negative impacts of NPK, herbicides and pesticides to above and below the soil let-alone to waterways
The complexity of differing tree's nutrition cycles and and their beneficial minerals
the list goes on

But we were up against it ( executive wise) and trying to explain these subject matter to joe punter.
What we always find interesting is what is taken to be the base level of understanding of our audience, it seems Radio 4 credits it's audience with a much higher level of understanding then we are allowed to on tv

As for the birds behind the plough on our arable fields well I can't comment for other farms but for our farm and with my father being a keen ornithologist we have definitely noticed their demise/ lack of interest since we moved to annual monoculture from traditional crop rotation..

bestest

b

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 23 Feb 2009, 08:03

Tim Green wrote:What we always find interesting is what is taken to be the base level of understanding of our audience, it seems Radio 4 credits it's audience with a much higher level of understanding then we are allowed to on tv

Ah, thet'll be right. The folk who watch telly are the ones with nothing better to do (unless they're very good at knitting), while those listening to Radio 4 are listening while they work, multitasking.

It's a pity the BBC website hasn't got links to the websites of the people who were featured in the film.

I've found Chris and Lyn Dixon at Tir Penrhos Isaf.
and Martin Crawford of the Agroforestry Reseach Trust who writes about the programme on the Dartington website.

Any others?

SunnyJim · Post by **SunnyJim** » 23 Feb 2009, 08:04

Tim, Rebecca, did you consider including humanure in the film at all or would that have been a 'step to far'?

I see that as one of the very most important things we can do. Using fresh water to carry our shite to places where it does damage is madness. How many soil nutrients are carried to the sea via our sewage system? All that goodness could be composted and put on nut and fruit trees. This could really help reduce soil loss and even help start to build soils.

It would be interesting to hear what you would include should you get another follow up program.

How about seed saving? Removal of dependence on F1 hybrid seeds? Development of perennial crops. I belive that some in the US are making good inroads to developing perennial wheat! R&D now to develop perennial crops would be a wise use of public money. So many subject to cover. Farming is so complex.

snow hope · Post by **snow hope** » 23 Feb 2009, 08:33

SunnyJim wrote:Farming is so complex.

Yet, it is the basis of our existance - since we switched from being hunter-gatherers anyway! I reckon our ancestors must have learnt a thing or two about growing food over the last few millenia.

2 As and a B · Post by **2 As and a B** » 23 Feb 2009, 08:41

Human poo was actually mentioned in Paxman's first "The Victorians" programme - and how the job of collecting the poo became redundant when WCs and sewers were introduced.

The validity of the emotive shots of birds following/not following the plough struck me afterwards as well. I haven't seen ploughing for several years so have no personal experience of a change. But if the change is due to the way the land is worked, rather than the act of ploughing itself, isn't it more likely to be the excessive use of chemicals, particularly pesticides, that have destroyed the ecology of the soil and, with the breakdown in the food chain, have led to poor pickings for birds? Alternatively, might birds now be finding better pickings at our landfill sites full of thrown-away food?

JohnTaylor · Post by **JohnTaylor** » 23 Feb 2009, 09:09

Here's a link to Fordhall Farm http://www.fordhallfarm.com/
They are also a Community Land Trust which is interesting in itself.
Here's a link to a document on their site documenting their organic system in more detail: http://www.fordhallfarm.com/Fordhall%27 ... System.rtf

The cereal element is a side that could be developed. There is a system outlined in One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka that rotates winter wheat (or barley?) and rice with a permanent ground cover of clover and the straw of both crops is returned as an uncomposted mulch to protect the following crop. His yields were some of the best in Japan. There is also a research centre here in the UK looking at wheat polycultures to boost resilience and also alley cropping wheat in an agroforestry system. http://www.woodfieldorganics.com/Images ... s_Farm.pdf

Another good food system I've come across is Aquaponics, a combination of fish farming with hydroponic plant production. The waste from the fish becomes the fertiliser for the plants which clean the water that returns to the fish. Very water efficient! This is an example in Wakefield: http://www.theableproject.org.uk/
This link is to a good case study summary of the same project: http://www.theableproject.org.uk/file_d ... 090708.doc

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 23 Feb 2009, 11:10

Thanks for posting those links, John.

I asked the BBC if and when a DVD of the film would be available and got this reply:

Hello Biff

Thank you very much for your enquiry.

I’m afraid the BBC only clears television and radio programmes for broadcast on its UK channels. All subsequent use (such as personal use) has to be re-cleared and fees paid to performers. Therefore copies of BBC programmes required for personal use cannot be supplied by BBC Motion Gallery.

A full list of those programmes that have been released on DVD or video and are available to members of the public can be found by contacting the BBC Shop on 08700 777 001 or you can check the website www.bbcshop.com. Please note that there is no other provision within the BBC to supply individuals with copies of BBC programmes not featured in the BBC Shop.

Kind Regards

Bhirel Patel

Sales Support | BBC Motion Gallery
BBC Worldwide | The Garden house | Media Centre | 201 Wood Lane | London | W12 7TQ
T: +44 (0)20 8433 3526 F: +44 (0)20 8433 2939
mailto:bhirel.patel@bbc.com http://www.bbcworldwide.com

I guess I asked the wrong bit of the BBC

eatyourveg · Post by **eatyourveg** » 23 Feb 2009, 11:14

There's always one.........

Message 61 - posted by nunnjosh (U2339749) , 21 Minutes Ago

A programme that was self-satisfied and smug. It was wrong on so may aspects. Why keep cattle at all? They create greenhouse gas and are the least e3fficient at supplying food. GM crops cou;d easily replace and improve on the ideas in the programme.

happychicken · Post by **happychicken** » 23 Feb 2009, 11:17

Well, I felt well and truly inspired by this film. It gave me a sense of hope that maybe we might just have a future.

I've even ordered some nut trees! - a walnut and a hazelnut from Thompson & Morgan. I hadn't realised just how huge Walnut trees grow - not sure where we'll put it

I think it's time we start planting on every available piece of land in the UK. Not everyone has access to 2 acres (we have approx 1/2 acre), but I can think of plenty of land just going to waste. I've registered as a landspotter on here http://www.landshare.net/ For those of us in urbia and suburbia this is might be our only hope

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 23 Feb 2009, 11:38

What is nunnjosh (U2339749)'s point? I was distracted by the typos.

I planted a walnut tree three years ago. It's three feet tall now. Not sure whether it will reach its full height before the Greater North Sea floods the Lincolnshire Marsh. Hazelnuts? Damn squirrels. It's not easy, this feed the world lark.

happychicken · Post by **happychicken** » 23 Feb 2009, 11:51

I think nunnjosh believes GM will save the world.

Someone needs to disagree with him about his negative views on the programme! I'll post something.

I think maybe powerswitchers have slightly taken over the POV thread