I was listening to the radio in the car (BBC Radio 4)to a farmer who raises cattle and black faced on marginal land up in scotland.

The beasts are smaller than the supermarket destined grain fed beef and lamb, but the cattle provide both milk and meat and the quality of the meat, milk, cream is superior to the average (both in taste and actual food content) and is taken by some food processors in preference to that from larger types.

The animals graze and grow on the uplands and eat a wide variety of plants. The sheep are 'hefted' on the land, that is they roam free in an area the flock has as its terretory, moving about as they need to find foods in different seasons.

The requirement for grain is reduced - the beef cattle are moved to lowland pasture and fed a suplement of grain to increase their bulk before slaughter.

The presenter was given a bowl of cream from the dairy herd, and it was almost funny to hear her enthusing over it as she ate it with some strawberries. Apparently it was almost solid after being cooled in the fridge, despite being 'just' simple cream off the milk, untreated.

It is very true that one man's wasteland is another man's living.

I remember reading of a 'helpful' neighbour spraying a large area of weedy ground beside a neighbour's house because he thought it would help them turn it into a lawn. He suceeded in killing their pets, and almost killing the family - they were just sitting down to eat the poisoned greenstuff when the neighbour went over to receive their thanks for his work.

Anne Croucher

Dorset, England