Farmers need science - official

It was gratifying to hear speakers and delegates comment several times over the course of the two day conference on the need for more research if the agricultural industry is to be sustainable and feed the world in an era of climate change. Sometimes we assume that farmers think all scientists exist in an ivory tower but the delegates at the NFU seemed very ready to support research. At this afternoon's political 'Question Time' one urged the funding of more teams to work on problems relevant to agriculture. He pointed out that successful research teams often have to waste time working on applications for grants, or disband to do other work - a situation academics are all too familiar with. So farmers are ready listen and to get results it into practice, as long as we can talk to them in language that is accessible and provide information that is useful to them.