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To the editor,
I read Kitty Thompson鈥檚 article with interest (Reform are clueless about the health of Britain鈥檚 countryside, 9 September 2025). The phrase the 鈥渕ost nature depleted鈥� is very misleading as this relates to how much of Britain is in its natural state before the influence of mankind.
The reality is that we have one of the richest farmed landscapes in the world, shaped by farmers over thousands of years, and in the top 20 countries for biodiversity. Our farmers are a huge part of that with all the environmental work they carry out while producing food and feeding the nation.
Over the past decade alone, more than 10,000 football pitches of wildflower habitat and thousands of flower-rich field margins have been developed to provide homes for bees and other insects, while farmers maintain 411,000 km of hedgerows that provide a species-rich haven for biodiversity.
It鈥檚 also no accident that during this year鈥檚 Big Farmland Bird Count, more than 350,000 birds were spotted - 125 different species including 26 species on the Red List of conservation concern.
We should be proud of this dynamic working environment that attracts millions of visitors every year and is crucial for food security, nature and biodiversity and public well-being.
NFU Deputy President David Exwood