[N]ewton Rigg Agricultural College’s hosted a visit by researchers who have taken to two wheels to cross the UK to canvas opinions about food, farming and the countryside.
The RSA Food, Farming and Countryside Commission, (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) is travelling the UK by bike to understand more about how food, farming and the countryside could change after Brexit.
A researcher has been cycling between locations in Cumbria this week to talk to people in high streets, supermarkets, farmers markets, workplaces and pubs.
On Wednesday (June 28) researcher Robert Reed met with Dan Stamper, Senior Agricultural Lecturer at Newton Rigg College near Penrith and Adam Day, CEO of The Farmer Network, also based at the College.
After being given a tour of the campus on graduation day, Robert said he had been “struck by the difficult task Dan faces in teaching the next generation of agricultural students about environmental targets and profitability without scaring them off”.
Of meeting Dan, he said he had learnt more about the” important position that farmers play in the fabric of society and of the importance of giving people respect. Everyone is asking for more balance in what can be difficult discussions and of the need to work together on the future of food, farming and the countryside in Cumbria.”
Adam Day said: “The Farmer Network delivered a clear message that farming is such a vital and central cog to future land use policies. In years to come we will need to produce food for a growing population and conserve our natural resources in equal measure and without exclusivity. The very best people to deliver and balance these huge public benefits are farmers.”
