Land of Milk and Honey: Digressions of a Rural Dissident

A personal account of farming and countryside life in the aftermath of Brexit, coupled with the impact of extreme environmentalism and Scottish nationalism. ''another highly readable and thought provoking work from Jamie Blackett.'' ''superbly acerbic'' ''a fascinating read for those interested in the countryside and the country...Well worth buying'' ‘Jamie Blackett crucially and eloquently stands up for real farming, real conservation and the real countryside, managing to be both lyrical and fearless at the same time.’ ''Blackett’s engaging style and lightness of touch belie the complexity of the issues with which he must contend, and make this a compelling read.'' ''Land of Milk and Honey is a book with great variety and change of pace. the description of rural life, its seasonal rhythms, the grandeur of nature and all its creatures are a joy to read.'' The author writes with admirable candour and detachment about his battle to save his farm in the face of adverse balance-sheets. As well as being an eloquent manifesto for saving the countryside from the unhappy fate that has overtaken large parts of urban Britain, this is a stirring evocation of rural life. Land of Milk and Honey is the long-awaited sequel to Red Rag to a Bull. Author Jamie Blackett finds himself in danger of losing the family estate as his beef business encounters difficulties and the spectre of Brexit bears down on the farming community. Meanwhile he feels under threat from extreme environmentalists attacking the very concept of livestock farming and by resurgent Scottish nationalism threatening the break-up of the United Kingdom.The book is the honest and forthright account of how he copes with the crisis by following the example of New Zealand farmers in similar circumstances and successfully embracing the new creed of regenerative agriculture and switching the farm into pasture-based dairying. Through Jamie’s struggles the reader comes to understand the crossroads facing the British countryside as it attempts to adapt to free trade after eighty years of agricultural subsidies. We are also guided through the complexities and contradictions in the quest to reach Net Zero carbon and reverse biodiversity loss as he explores the current craze for re-wilding the land and puts some of its ideas into practice for the benefit of wildlife on the estate.Along the way Jamie becomes an outspoken newspaper columnist and establishes an unlikely political alliance with the maverick socialist George Galloway in an attempt to break the stalemate in Scottish politics and defeat Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP in the Holyrood election.The book contains humour, vivid passages of nature writing and numerous polemical digressions on a wide range of countryside issues.

• | Author: Jamie Blackett
• | Publisher: Quiller Publishing Ltd
• | Publication Date: Jun 14, 2022
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Hardback
• | ISBN-13: 9781846893667
• | ISBN-10: 1846893666