Farmers are popular again (From Western Telegraph)

Farmers are popular again

2:10pm Sunday 21st September 2008 in News

After more than a decade of rural decline, attitudes towards farmers are changing, according to a major survey.

A major research project commissioned by Country Life magazine has revealed how, despite uneasy relationships in the past, farmers are popular again, with 73% of people believing they are vital for Britain’s food production.

Mark Hedges, editor of Country Life, says: “It would seem that more than a decade of rural disaster —BSE, the hunting ban, bird flu, bovine TB, and foot and mouth — have earned farmers not only sympathy, but respect.

“With the UK being increasingly unable to rely on fossil fuels and with the population due to hit the nine billion mark by the mid century, farming is becoming more important, and farmers should finally benefit.”

From more than 1,100 people across the UK who took part in the Voice of the Countryside survey, 41% thought farmers were the guardians of Britain’s rural heritage.

However, while the public recognised that farmers are undervalued and underpaid, very few people want to work on a farm, the survey revealed.

Only 3% of respondents chose farming from a list of preferred countryside occupations, while 10% would like to own a country pub.

The biggest threats facing the countryside, according to the findings of the survey, are ‘over-zealous regulation’ and ‘the Labour Party’.

Supermarkets were viewed in a negative light by a majority of respondents, who said they have too much power.

For the full results of the Voice of the Countryside survey, which sampled 1,100 people from across the country, go to the website www.countrylife.co.uk/ voiceofthecountryside2.