Kevin Prince has wide experience of farming and rural business in Hampshire, where he lives near Andover, and across southern England as a director in the Adkin consultancy. His family also run a diversified farm with commercial lets, holiday cottages and 800 arable acres.

EVERYONE knows that in Britain’s pre-history, just as the glaciers retreated, trees took over our landscape.

As soon as man discovered that tools could be used to cut down trees and create open space for cultivation he set to work. It dramatically altered how our island looks and even with all that current emphasis on planting trees it will never go back to how it was 8,000 years ago.

Even today our landscape evolves, often due to economic pressures altering land use. It can go in cycles, too, so for the next few years there will be a reduced number of cows grazing our fields, for instance, because the milk price, although still high compared with past figures, is too low for many farmers to gain an income commensurate with 5am starts in the milking parlour every day of the year.

Even on Christmas Day, when folklore says animals are able to talk during the dark hours, farmers have to milk the herd. How much better it might be if for that one day they could read instead and thus follow the instructions on the milking machines and let farmers have a lie-in!

Again with cash results driving the equation, arable farmers are also looking at new ways to make a living so you may see the fields near you become unfamiliar, even untidy, as those who cultivate them adjust to new payment regimes. This could be caused by waiting for environmental mixes to establish or even a wholesale change of crops that could result in both new flowering seasons and new colours to replace the gold of cereals and the yellow of oil seed rape as the years advance.

The desire to increase biodiversity will lead to some hedgerows looking scruffier than before. Keen enthusiasts for blackberry picking may have been disappointed by the poor season this year (rain and sunlight at the wrong times have prevented the berries from filling out) even after some owners have not cut back hedges this year but left them for the birds to feed and then to nest, sheltered by the extra luxuriant greenery, in the Spring.

Taller hedges may also rob some people of views across fields that were once familiar as the hedges gain height. Like farmers, neighbours will have to adjust to this new landscape driven by environmental desires and the need to provide havens for wildlife.

Taller hedges can also mean reduced sightlines on some country roads, although where safety is paramount hedges will still be cut. This could limit the view across corners and thus hide cyclists and horse riders ahead.

With that in mind, reduced speed on back roads will greatly increase safety for other road users, particularly as leaves and verge-side mud make roads less grippy.

It’s also helpful to horse riders if other traffic slows down to pass. Under the new Highway Code, pedestrians and then cyclists take priority, followed by horse traffic. But a silent bike powered by brightly-coloured lycra-clad legs is enough to alarm a horse. So as cyclists approach horse riders, a cheery “Good morning” or “Hello” will help make life easier for the horse.