Farmers v walkers - Foot dragging on land access row must end

FARMS are places of business, and no matter what subsidies apply, no matter how enviable the single farm payments might seem to those not entitled to them, they are first and foremost places where people make their living.

Many farms are in places of great natural beauty, especially those in upland or coastal regions, and some, in lakelands or river valleys, are places of idyllic calm.

Most farmers and their families have a strong emotional attachment to their land, an attachment so powerful that it can often bewilder urban dwellers.