Agricultural chaplain's easy guide to farming

M ILK comes from machines, turkey twizzlers grow on trees, sheep have to be slaughtered before they're shorn – and cattle eat meat. We've all heard the crass ignorance of urban belief, and it's not just schoolchildren who are totally ignorant about the origins of their food.

Though those examples are extremes, misinformation about how farming operates, and the countryside ticks, is increasingly widespread, even where there is an obvious desire to find out more. The Year of Farming and Food in Schools did much to dispel juvenile misconceptions, but there remain glaring holes in the nation's general knowledge about the agriculture that surrounds it.

Now a newly-retired Devon clergyman has set out to help lift the veil on farming lore with an easy-to-read book, which he is selling in aid of three agricultural charities.

The Farming Thing – a Layman's Guide to Farming, is the brainchild of the Rev Stuart Wilson, until very recently the vicar of North Lew and team vicar at Okehampton.

The paperback, published privately by Mr Wilson, runs to 107 pages and 27,000 words and is profusely illustrated with pictures donated by well-established professional photographers. It is well designed and very easy to read, setting out the questions and answers in a straightforward format, which while simple, still goes into precise detail.

Mr Wilson, who now lives at Bratton Clovelly, near Okehampton, originates from Somerset, and after studying at Seale-Hayne Agricultural College spent much of his working life with Fisons and then Bayer, getting to know thousands of farmers in the South West over many years as a technical sales rep and accounts manager.

He even managed a farm for a couple of years, before taking Holy Orders at the age of 50. Since then he has widened his net yet further, working as an agricultural chaplain in the Exeter Diocese.

"I don't want to educate people about farming, just help them become more aware of the agricultural community and how farming works," he explained.

"There is a higher profile these days about the rural community and the isolation of farmers in particular and also of people who move to the countryside unaware of what it will be like.

"But there is still a lack of understanding about farming among the urban population, and I wanted to explain how the farming thing happens, without appearing to be trying to teach granny to suck eggs – just to show people that what they see around them, the cattle and the crops, are the product of hard work.

"Explaining in basic terms the processes involved in all the farming sectors was a vital part of helping the layman gain an insight into what went on.

"Shoppers should know what they are getting and how it was produced when they buy a chicken or eggs – to know a little about the main diseases, the dangers of potato blight, for example. But I don't want to be overbearing in any way."

He used his farming contacts to help; for example drawing on his extensive number of friends in West Cornwall for the vegetable section.

A three-month sabbatical in 2008 gave Mr Wilson the opportunity to start writing, and the past few months have been spent putting the work together, finding pictures and correcting proofs. He tried several publishers and a couple showed interest, but eventually he decided on private publication, with an initial print run of 2,000.

Already the Rural Payments Agency has taken a consignment, for distribution to new entrants to the industry. All profits are going to the Farm Crisis Network, the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution and the Arthur Rank Centre.

The book costs just £6 and is available from Mr Wilson on 01837 871248.