As a teenager, I grew up in the Lincolnshire Fens near Spalding. At ages 17 and 18, throughout the summer holidays, I cycled 13 miles each way to work in a canning factory near Long Sutton. (Back when CO2 was 340ppm in 1982. Since then, it’s increased by 26% in just 44 years.)
Today I learn that Long Sutton is home to the UK’s first (?) commercial plantation of olives 😯 🫒
…Farmer, David Hoyles, says he is “growing the olives alongside more conventional crops such as wheat, sugar beet, potatoes and peas” and that he has “installed wind turbines and solar panels to improve energy self-sufficiency.”
Additional reservoirs have been constructed to provide extra water for the crops during dry periods.
Good on you David :)
…What I find encouraging about this is that the Lincolnshire I knew was a staunchly Conservative insular community. And I’m aware that parts of it have since become very enamoured with UKIP/Reform.
I’ve no idea what David’s politics are, but it’s great that farming is adapting to climate change… a) It *has to* anyway; b) thermodynamics will steamroller Reform delusions eventually.
We are actually all in this together
@urlyman My dad is from Cowbit. Spalding was a comparative sprawling metropolis.
It’s good to see this farmer doing what he can to improve his farm’s growing conditions, resilience and using renewables. Regen ag seems too much of a generational shift with farmers unfortunately.
@Broadfork I grew up in the next village down the road, Moulton Chapel
Jonathan Schofield
Broadfork
Sarah W