I believe the problem lies in the communication divide between the rural and scientific communities, which has unfortunately been ingrained in human society for too long. Many farmers have long associated anything to do with ecology or ‘green practices’ with the negative side of environmentalism, partly because of the negative coverage that ‘environmentalists’ often receive.

The world’s environmental issues (atmospheric pollution, synthetic chemical cycling in natural systems, food shortages, renewable energies etc.) have been burgeoning for decades. But they’ve only recently been saturated on our consciousness through media and government propaganda. If you look at it from a farmer’s perspective, they’ve seen droughts, water shortages and so-called ‘climate change’ for the last century or so…and then all of a sudden, city folk are all over them like a rash going on about emissions, carbon trading, water allocation markets and the like as if they’ve only just heard of it yesterday.

There are a lot of farmers around the world who are doing wonders for the environment (some of them without even realising it) and have been for years. I reckon a “Landcare for the 21st century” works both ways–it requires a lot more mutual respect between the farming and scientific communities, a lot more communication and knowledge trading, and a great deal less use of jargon and ‘catchphrases’.