" Farmland that could be used for growing food is instead being used to grow Miscanthus grass for biofuel, which is low-maintenance, profitable and allows lazy "farmers" to become country gentlemen."
More nonsense from Shaw. Farms are not charities. If the agricultural subsidy scheme encourages planting biofuel over other crops then that is what will be grown. Nothing to do with being country gentlemen at all, just sound economic practice.
Do I detect a whiff of socialism and envy?


miscanthus
You are correct about soil erosion, although recognising the severity and wide distribution of the problem has only relatively recently been acknowledged. Previously it was thought to be a problem of far more arid areas,but now is seen to be a cause for serious concern. Perhaps you could argue the problem should have been attacked 40 years ago when first recognised, but in any field detecting a problem, defining it and seeking a cure it does not happen overnight. The cure lies in the implementation of the EU water framework directive.


https://www.bgs.ac.uk/downloads/start.cfm?id=815

http://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/3/3/418/htm

https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/envir/soil_en

It is a fascinating field of study