Farming
Is No. 10 coming for game shooting next?
I confess I was lunching at L’Escargot in Greek Street as Rachel Reeves delivered her Budget. My excuse was that…
Escape into fantasy: My Heavenly Favourite, by Lucas Rijneveld, reviewed
The 14-year-old daughter of a Dutch farmer is pursued by a paedophile vet and tries hard to combat the abuse by imagining she’s a bird
A farm in the Fells
‘Some days I feel like I’m drowning,’ admits Helen Rebanks, caught between cooking, housework, admin, tagging lambs and the school run at the Lake District family farm
Wild life
Laikipia The principal of the local polytechnic was waiting for me in the kitchen. Frequently in the kitchen there is…
Wild life
The Farm, Laikipia I realised the worst drought of this generation was at last over this morning when two Samburu…
Communing with an ancestor
Ian Marchant, diagnosed with cancer in 2020, takes comfort from his ancestor’s diary (1714-28), recording a full life as farmer and mainstay of his parish
Is Credit Suisse the tornado on the banking horizon?
Headlines about ‘alarm over CreditSuisse’ might be read as a sign of normality in financial news, rather than the reverse.…
Real life
My phone buzzed and rang while I was doing the horses until I thought, fine, I’ll call the Defence Secretary…
Boris has to choose between rewilding and food security
Does Boris Johnson have the faintest idea what he and his government are trying to achieve anymore? I ask because…
Common ground
Farmers and rewilders must discover their shared purpose
Letters
Disarming by default Sir: Underpinning Rod Liddle’s amusing article on use of nuclear weapons last week is the reassurance provided…
Letters
Nuclear future Sir: It is refreshing to see Martin Vander Weyer note that, properly and fully costed, nuclear power is…
There’s something about dairy
The latest film from Andrea Arnold (Red Road, Fish Tank, American Honey) is a feature-length documentary about a cow, starring…
Barometer
Whole-life sentences How many prisoners are serving whole-life sentences? — There are currently 74 prisoners in prison with whole-life tariffs;…
An odd, unsettled time
The word ‘magisterial’ consistently attaches itself to the work of David Kynaston. His eye-wateringly exhaustive four-volume history of the Old…
Real life
We began searching for the farm of our dreams in Wales as we planned our escape from Surrey. The problem…
Letters
A note about manure Sir: I am afraid Matt Ridley shows a lack of understanding about agriculture in general and…
Dishing the dirt
The case against organic food
Agricultural revolution
I was at a party the other day when who should accost me but Jeremy Clarkson. There were lots more…
A dog’s life
‘I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by cat videos,’ begins Henry Mance’s How to Love Animals, winningly.…
Wild life
Laikipia In the past I had a low opinion of sheep. During my first forays into farming I saw them…
Diary
Staying in Britain for the summer has been, in many ways, entirely glorious. We have zigzagged from Shropshire through Derbyshire…
Letters
Left-behind boys Sir: Christopher Snowdon’s perceptive and informative article (‘The lost boys’, 18 July) reflects perfectly my own experiences in…
Wild life
Death and failure are more integral to farming than any other experience that I’ve witnessed in my life. Some things…
