Sensitive farmers? Surely some mistake.

The short article (November 6) needs some further work to explain the "spin" because I do not see any evidence of this "environmentally-sympathetic" farming on my part of the South Downs.

I can't imagine more unsympathetic farming, with huge industrial machinery and contractors working day and night for an intensive period, then disappearing for weeks before returning to chemically spray the huge fields.

And, as the great harvesting operations are immediately followed by ploughing, we have these vast fields exposed and vulnerable to the autumn rains, the heaviest of the year, so we suffer destructive soil erosion from the run-off caused by this totally unsustainable agriculture.

So, please can we have some balanced reporting in The Argus? Talk to the people who live in and on the edge of the South Downs.

Ask them whether they feel "more farmers" are helping to "preserve the unique character of the South Downs" using "traditional management methods and environmentally-sympathetic farming practices to safeguard and enhance the landscape, wildlife and historic character of the area".

-Dean Glamm, Howard Road, Lancing