TWO recent letters in this paper remind us that the arguments surrounding livestock farming are far from simple.

The first, Meat and dairy put strain on the planet, June 26, from vegan group Viva depicts some of the environmental downsides of large-scale intensive farming including emissions of greenhouse gasses.

The second letter, Please look at what will be gone forever, June 28, talks about beautiful wildflower meadows around Cullompton. It's worth remembering that these exist solely because they have been used for hundreds of years for hay production to feed livestock.

Viva complains that half of our crops are fed to animals and 38 per cent of our land is used for agriculture, but our major crop in this country is grass which is fed to animals.

Permanent grassland can be a fantastic biodiverse environment, and less intensive livestock farming which does not use chemicals will cause the land to become healthier.

Much of the west of England is also unsuitable for growing cereals. Plough up our many steep slopes and the soil would simply be washed away.

Rather than give up meat altogether, we should look to farm our meat in a more extensive and sustainable manner.

Giles Bradshaw

Rose Ash