Capturing the zeitgeist of an agricultural wave of change in three generations of a family and seeing it through the ordinary, daily hard work of life, farm, family, community and shifts in thinking and practices has been a treat. A great read.

Beautifully written and very thought provoking. I enjoyed immensely.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

What a beautifully written book. The story it tells - of how British farming has changed over the past few decades, and the toll this took on the environment and farmers - is very familiar, almost to the point of cliche. But it's so well-excuted, well-written, and heartfelt that you can't mind. I read this book in one entire sitting, and it's stayed with me ever since. It does make you think differently about farming, ecology, and heritage.

Pastoral Song: A Farmer's Journey by James Rebanks

Pastoral Song is about how farming has changed and developed from the Post-war period to today.

There are three main sections.

The first is colored by the boyhood memories of the author, James Rebanks, as he learns to love farming while helping his grandfather on their family's traditional mixed-use farm.

The second section describes a young adult working hard to help his father navigate the race to industrialize and modernize their farm in the 80s and 90s. They cut down on the variety of crops and animals. And they introduce fertilizers and pesticides to their farm. One can clearly understand that deviating from the race to modernization isn't an easy choice for farmers to make. Given a society that is now majority urban, there just aren't as many skilled laborers as there used to be. Farmers must mechanize or disappear. Mechanization engenders indebtedness. Indebtedness pushes the small family farmer off his land and the farm into the hands of ever-larger industrial farms.

Finally, Rebanks describes how he is adapting his farm to the present understanding of ecology, economics, and sustainability. In light of the problems that industrialized farming brings to farmers, the land, and to society, Rebanks describes the remediation projects that he has begun on his farm. He writes about possible sustainable alternatives, more in line with traditional farming than to the melange of industry and agriculture that up until recently has been the only viable possibility.

Pastoral Song is an easy book to read. It is sometimes poetic, often peppered with relatable observations, even quaint. Because it paints a large picture of the forces at work in Western agriculture over the last 70 years it gives voice to the dawning realization many of us have that farming, coupled with profit motives, results in sub-optimal outcomes when considering the animals, planet, farmers, and consumer health.

What brought me to this book?

It was recommended by someone in my narrow friend group on Goodreads. I didn't know anything about it except that it had a long wait list at the local library; usually a good sign!

What I did know is that I, along with many in our society, feel the pull to learn more about traditional agriculture. That I feel estranged from the modern world and how distant I am from the things that matter. That was enough of an argument to get me to take the book out.

Anyone looking for an easy read about the recent back and forth between tradition and modernity on the farmyard would do well to read Rebanks' book.

It couples well with Jonathan Safran Foer's 'Eating Animals,' which shares in criticizing the modern agro-industry.

I was persuaded to read this book by both my siblings and at first I thought it might have a slightly lecture-like and arrogant tone and make me more despairing about the state of our world. But as I read more and connected to the style and delightful visual imagery of nature and landscape conjured up alongside the really useful and clearly argued facts about farming and agricultural - i came to love it. The final section titled ‘Utopia’ was so inspiring and beautiful, I found it profoundly moving and inspiring. It has made me write out lines in my sketchbook and has influenced my art practice and made me want to live off the land (which tends to happen when I read nature books!) It is personal, factual and accessible while being beautifully written at the same time! A must read!

Pastoral Song contains some beautiful writing, lovely, lyrical passages about how astonishing nature is and on the joy of farming. That said, it's a little long, especially the first half about how badly we've damaged the planet. (We have.) I listened to about half of it and the audio narrator was good.

Any publisher or editor reading this: please for the love of all that's holy, CHAPTER BREAKS. There is no shame in chapter breaks. Switching back and forth between print and audio is especially challenging without chapter breaks.

Farmers are often portrayed as the villains in the media I consume. Whether through harmful, intensive farming practices damaging the environment or limiting access to the few open spaces that we have around us. I get a very one sided view of the situation.

With the ongoing controversy around the inheritance tax, I was finding it difficult to sympathise with the farming community. I decided to educate myself and try to see a different perspective on farming. This book proved a wonderful choice.

This is a very honest and personal story of a family farm in the Lake District. It raised some difficult questions and suggested some potential solutions. But most importantly it made me care more about farmers and their struggles. Things in life are rarely black and white and I understand now that my view was overly simplistic. I’ll try to remember this story and have more empathy in the future.