We should be open with public

IT IS good to see that our swifts, swallows and house-martins have returned. I suppose one could call them the second-home owners of the avian world!

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Livestock farms lend themselves to these birds, with an abundance of food and nest-building materials. It is a joy to watch their aerial displays and to hear the chorus of screams from the swifts and the chattering of the swallows and martins.

There had been a proposal to incorporate specially designed hollow bricks to create nesting sites in all new-build houses, of which millions have been promised by the current government. The government, in its infinite wisdom, blocked the proposals last week because the nests might contain mites and bacteria. This simple and cheap piece of legislation (£35 per brick) might (no pun intended) have helped boost our declining bird population.

We farmers have a responsibility for the care and welfare of our stock a fairly obvious statement, but unfortunately it takes undercover reporting to reveal that this is not always the case. Recent video footage taken on a pig farm in Lincolnshire shows some horrific and brutal treatment of the pigs by the employees. The unit has 6,000 pigs and supplies most major supermarkets with pork products.