Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Farmers: stewards of land, scourge of trees


La di dah, another day.
Another farmer has knocked down another bunch of trees on his land. It turns my stomach every time I drive past it. The first time, I nearly cried.
Farmers, like all of us, know that trees are essential for soil conservation. They provide a windbreak that we quite badly need around here.
They provide habitat for wildlife.
There is more to know about the importance of trees, of course, and farmers know it as well as any of us, if not better.
And yet they bulldoze those trees to get another few acres of croppable land.
It means more money in their pockets.
The bottom line is a big bold one.

3 comments:

  1. Breaks my heart everytime.

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  2. True, but not all farmers. I have one quarter that is more bush and grass than cultivated. Known as the hundred acres woods it is neither efficient or up to date but we happen to like a few trees.
    My modern efficient neighbours probably shake their heads seeing all that "waste land".

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    Replies
    1. Very true, it's not all farmers. Wrong to paint them all with the same brush, for sure; Scott and his family are very protective of the trees on their land.

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