Summary
In just 30 years, the number of farm workers in Scotland has almost halved. Public understanding of farming and food production has also nose-dived - stony ground that farmers are keen to enrich
HELLO, I'm Neil. I've got everything ready for you to feed the beasts." As greetings go, this is one of the more peculiar that I've experienced. But it is very welcome. Neil Thomson, a tall, strong 45- year-old in blue overalls, farms at Caverton Mill, near Kelso, with his younger brother Keith. They are the umpteenth generation of Borders farmers in their family. At Caverton Mill, the Thomsons have been tenants of the Dukes of Roxburghe since 1927. They rent 650 acres and own a further 250 acres three miles away. They grow cereals, brassicas and keep around 300 beef cattle. There are also two small pigs - Nick and Dave - though these are basically pets, a porcine coalition of two, unlikely to end up as sausages.See the full content of this document
Extract
Up and Down On the Farm
I am going to spend a day working here at this typical modern Scottish farm, before going on to do a second day's work at a small organic farm. "Right," says Thomson, "put your pen and paper down. Back to the Dark Ages!"
What actually happens on a farm? Very few people can say for sure. Though farmland takes up three-quarters of the British landmass, agriculture employs less than two per cent of the total labour force; and according to research by the charity Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF), one in three British adults, 44 per cent of Scots, has never visited a farm. There also seems to be a real lack of public understanding regarding the amount and type of food produced by the countryside. Research suggests that more th...See the full content of this document
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