Noble aims of environmental land management

I recently had the opportunity to visit a local farm, and the pleasure of being shown around by the farmer.

I know what you’re thinking… what does the Labour guy know about farming? This will be funny!

Bear with me. I do believe one of the qualities people in politics should have is the modesty to admit when they don’t know a lot about something.

We have enough ‘know-italls.’ How about some more folk who listen to it all?

That’s certainly the approach I try and take with agriculture. And it was fascinating to hear and see what this one local farmer was doing with his landholding.

One thing that really stood out to me was the trial of two different crops (a grain and a pulse) sown and harvested concurrently.

I didn’t know that was practical, but the increased proficiency of mechanised sorting equipment does render it so.

You could see with your own eyes the impact on the yield of the grain though, and with the price uncertainty on the pulses, such experiments are risky. Inevitably one cannot talk about the politics of farming without mentioning ELMS. Not the trees, but the Environmental Land Management Scheme. Despite having voted to leave the EU in 2016, the landscape for post CAP subsidies in the UK is still being fleshed out. ELMS comprises three different schemes, with as many as two hundred differently remunerated actions farmers can take as stewards of the land.

They range from leaving land fallow through to creating skylark plots and beetle sanctuaries.

You can receive £684 to take a pig to the vet through to £119 for every pond you manage. Sounds complex? Seems it. I really feel for farmers, who already have enough on their plates with things like seesawing fertiliser prices, as they try to figure out what is the most economically efficient combination of actions to take on their land.

I do hope there is support provided to farmers with these calculations.

Labour has cautiously welcomed ELMS as a ‘step in the right direction.’

If it forms the next government, Labour intends to work with the NFU to make ELMS work rather than overturn the apple-cart.

It’s also fair to say though that Labour wants to see more solar farms in the countryside, which may need incorporating in the different sustainability payments.

More broadly, Labour aims to ensure that 50% of all food purchased by the public sector is locally produced or certified to higher environmental production standards. This is a noble aim, but one that I think may need to wait until food prices have stabilised.

A pair of friends sorting out the estate of a Dorset care home resident have doubled the amount to be gifted to a children’s charity after hearing more about its work.

Tim Jones and John Smith lost their long-standing friend Ken Thorp, at the age of 89, in January 2023 and were appointed his executors.

In line with Ken’s wish to help charities working with children in Dorset, they originally earmarked £20,000 for Diverse Abilities, which supports young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

But after a cheque presentation with Diverse Abilities’ representatives gave the pair the chance to hear more about the charity’s work, they doubled the amount to £40,000.

Tim, senior buyer in the purchasing department of Colten Care, arranged for the presentation to take place at the care home provider’s Bourne View, next door to Diverse Abilities’ specialist Langside school.

A giant cheque highlighted the figure of £20,000 but then Tim and John got talking with Diverse Abilities’ head of fundraising

Helen Mortimer and chief executive Mark Powell.

Tim said: “John and I were profoundly moved by Ken’s generosity. His wife Barbara predeceased him 10 years ago and they didn’t have any children. He saw John and I as effectively his next-of-kin. I knew him for more than 40 years and John was his friend for more than 50.

“On reading his will and knowing he didn’t have any family, we were most surprised that he wanted the bulk of his estate to go to charities with a leaning towards children and, where

Award-Winning Care 2022

We have been awarded this much sought after accolade for our work with Gold Standards Framework possible, with a Dorset presence. “When we met with Helen and Mark and learned more about the amazing work that Diverse Abilities does through education, therapy and nursing support for children living with some of the biggest challenges anyone could face anywhere, we knew Ken would heartily approve of a substantial increase in the amount we had originally planned. It was an easy decision for us.”

In response, Helen said: “We are honoured to receive this incredible gift from the estate of

Ken Thorp. Disability charities like Diverse Abilities do not typically receive many gifts from people’s wills, so to have our work recognised in such a generous way means a lot to us. The donation will support Langside School, our specialist school providing education, therapeutic support and nursing care for children with incredibly profound physical and learning disabilities and medical needs.”

Ken was born and brought up in the East End of London and moved to Dorset in the 1960s, living in Branksome, Poole, for more than 40 years.

He ran a company, Ken Thorp Supplies Ltd, a wholesale supplier of catering equipment to trade customers such as pubs, clubs and restaurants.

The last two years of his life were spent at Colten Care’s Outstanding-rated Canford Chase care home in Western Road, Branksome.

As well as Diverse Abilities, gifts from Ken’s estate have been made to children’s charities and community causes including the neonatal unit at Royal Bournemouth Hospital, the disability sailing charity Poole Sailability and Great Ormond Street Hospital.

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