Generally viewed as a desert for wildlife, producing food in a semi-industrial fashion, using a lot of fertilizers and pesticides. Hedges are frequently grubbed out, leaving large expanses of monoculture. However, just like in a real desert, there is some wildlife, albeit less than in other more diverse places. Most crops do attract large flocks of birds at various stages of the growth cycle - Pigeons being particularly ubiquitous. Despite the use of insecticides, many crops do suffer from blackfly etc, and many birds feast on them. Skylarks do seem to like some crops, singing their wonderful songs before diving back into the vegetation. In the autumn, Pheasants and Partridge frequently stalk the newly harvested or planted fields. In winter, the best place to see hares is in large fields with crops only just poking through. This element of our landscape is by no means perfect, but nor is it as bad as frequently painted. Recently the RSPB and others have been encouraging farmers to leave small areas for wildlife. One of the most visible techniques is for the farmer to 'miss out' a small stretch when sowing winter grain. The result is a small bare patch(es) in the middle of the field, where Lapwings can build their nests on the ground, and raise their young, as they used to do before grain was sown in the winter (spring sown grain is still short enough at the time the Lapwing is breeding, but winter sown grain has a head-start and is too tall).

Since most of us do buy (at least some of) our food from shops or supermarkets, we do create the demand for the food that is being grown; and most of us do look for 'good value', wanting the cheapest food possible in our desired quality range - placing pressure on the farmer to be more efficient, and cut costs. So whilst it is easy to criticise farmers for being environmentally insensitive, we are all part of the problem.

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