My first memory of fields was the terrible smell - cow manure.
I haven't smelt or seen the huge heaps in fields for a long time.
After the war the tractors replaced the draught horses and NPK or "bag muck" began to be used.
So now the organic material provided by several thousand years of manure has been squandered. The Soil is merely infertile mineral dust.
Once the OIL based Fertilizers become too expensive to bring a profit, the fields of Britain and the rest of the world will revert to scrub
The once numerous family-farm has been replaced by a business-farm. operated by 1% of the workforce
Thousands of animals live on one holding and hundred of acres of crops are grown on another.
With the looming expense of transport I cannot see how the plentiful supplies of manure on stockfarms can be profitably moved onto arable lands.
Although the farms are often huge they are generally not close enough to each other.
Mixed farms so beloved of urban "Countryfolk" do not exist. There are no farmyards with chickens and ducks pecking about any longer.
For that matter, it is not done to go ratting in the barn. For one thing the barn is an aluminium and concrete wonder complete with hermentically sealed silos of grain and so killing rats with dogs
is a naughty relic of the past - even if it were possible.
The only real answer would be to create Farmschools for all children on the edge of towns.
The Curriculum would be Practical Farming.
All children would be shown how to Make compost, Sow,Weed and Harvest.
Everyone would be taught
- How to cook food using farm produce.
- How to make and repair tools and clothes.
- How to build houses, farm buildings.
- How to feed and care for all the farm animals
- How to train horses to haul equipment
- How to use an axe,sickle saw and scythe
- How to set and sharpen a saw
We have the stored knowledge of a Millenium but we do not have the hands on experience.For instance - How many can make and use a bow drill to light a fire without matches?
We must not lose our civilisation by waiting for " Katrina-style Search & Rescue"
