Monoculture crops.
Where are all the wildflowers?
Where is all the life?
Modern intensive agricultural practices have had a devastating impact upon the native wildlife that inhabits arable land, from the density of worms in the soil to the number of apex predators patrolling the skies. In particular, monoculture crops, herbicides, pesticides and the removal of hedgerows have resulted in depleted numbers of invertebrates and subsequently the numbers and variety of birds and other vertebrates that feed upon them.
The farmer and writer John Lewis-Stempel approached this issue by taking a small arable field in south Herefordshire, UK, and spending a year growing wheat following traditional methods. Whilst sowing a mix of wheat he also sowed various species of wildflower, both in the margins of the field and amongst the crop itself. As the year processed he charted the wildlife that appeared in the field, from harvestmen and worms to hares and barn owls.
The blossoming of life was astonishing, absent in the vast, monoculture fields that dominate much of agricultural Britain. Lewis-Stempel’s work begs the question whether such endeavours if repeated across the countryside could transform the levels of biodiversity in the UK? Are the (supposed) gains that modern intensive farming bring worth the environmental devastation they create? As a consumer I am guilty of benefitting from cheap food, it’s hard not to be. But as Lewis-Stempel says “every time one buys the lie of cheap food a flower or a bird dies”. I do believe in flowers and birds, I do, I do.
I can’t recommend his book documenting the project enough: ‘The Running Hare: The Secret Life of Farmland’. From the quality of the prose to the clearly outlined arguments throughout, it is outstanding. If you care about native species, conservation or agriculture then this is essential reading. For everyone else it’s just highly recommended. (And how nice it is to see Herefordshire getting any form of recognition or acknowledgement in the media).