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Article: Country Matters: Set-aside? It's a waste of space
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- July 2, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1994 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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YOU will not easily find anybody round here with a good word to
say about agricultural set-aside, the policy under which the
Government pays farmers to take land out of production in the hope
of reducing surpluses. In the six years since set-aside was
introduced, I have never met anybody who thought it was the right
solution to a problem whose existence everybody admits.
Villagers loathe set-aside for having helped to put them out of
work. If a farmer with 1,000 acres can pick up pounds 18,600 in
cash for letting 150 acres lie idle, he will need fewer hands, if
any, to work the remaining 850. Ornithologists, entomologists and
wild-flower lovers have despaired over set-aside because the ...