28/09/2026
Yesterday a young farmworker contacted me from Scotland, and his words echo the feeling so many have expressed on this Page that I asked if I could quote him anonymously. Protecting identity is important - his employer would not like him speaking this way. But his time and effort in putting words together for us here will encourage more consideration, and more people driving the tractor blades will be inclined to think twice before ripping back to bare wood.
Here is his statement:
" I am a Shepherd and Farm worker, but I don’t have control over some of the management practices on the farm including hedge cutting. I’ve been here for many years now and can see with my own eyes the impact thugging has on the hedges. It’s undeniable. We have a contractor come once a year to cut the hedges and where he cannot cut due to access, the form and quality of both the habitat and shelter there is immensely better than around the rest of the farm. You can even see where he’s been able to cut one side of the hedge there are absolutely no berries but on the other side where he’s not been able to get access, it’s completely laden with fruit.
My insight is that knowing lots of Farmers the reason that they continue with this really harsh annual practice of thugging is “traditional” or perhaps habit is a better term. It’s always been done that way and they don’t change it, sometimes they don’t even speak to their contractor every year - the contractor just shows up, does the job and leaves. And the contractor will do it exactly the same every single year.
I have tried to get the Farm owner to consider lifting the height of the hedges and cutting on alternate years and we are in the process of planting some new saplings into the gaps but that habit is incredibly hard to break.
My only other insight is that there is a real fear of hedges looking messy or unkept and also are Farmers driving past and commenting on it. I realise it sounds ridiculous but I genuinely think that there’s a real reluctance to do anything differently either through fear that it doesn’t work or it looks untidy or the other people think it’s wrong.
It’s a real sad situation and you can see the strength of feeling from people in the comments section who are trying to defend what they’re doing. But I genuinely think it comes from a place of a fear of change. "
There is an urgent need for awareness, for the only way we are going to salvage the appalling state of the UK's countryside is by acting responsibly NOW. There's no place for fear here - it's essential to stop peer-pressing other people into ecocide, and to allow fruit-bearing hedges to do their job. A lot of commenters say, "there's plenty out there for the wildlife" while they defend hard cutting. That is to say, the wildlife can go somewhere else. Population drops are telling a different story.
Annual cutting is fine as long as green growth is left on the bush, and every few years a hard cut, coppice or laying is done to keep the integrity of the hedge line. If you don't have the manpower, help is available. DM with your location for assistance. We can bravely pave the way for positive progress.
Thank you for your consideration.
