SURROUNDED by fields and farmland it would be nice to think that Five Valleys folk know a thing or two about agriculture.

But it might come as a bit of a surprise how little many of us know about the world on our doorstep.

Chief reporter Sam Bond and photographer Kirstie Trueman joined farmers Julia Currie and Jane Godsell and members of the Gloucestershire Green Party on a walk looking at Farming on the Edge.

We all know that food comes from fields, milk comes from cows and that farmers like to moan but how much do we really know about the processes that produce what we eat and the difficulties facing modern-day agriculture?

The Green Party organised a walk in September across two farms on the edge of Stroud to look at some of these issues.

The walk took in Ebley's Croft Farm, described by owner Julia Currie as a 'semi-working, once-organic' farm and neighbouring Godsell's Farm, a working dairy farm. "The walk is called Farming on the Edge for two reasons," said Julia.

"This farm is right on the edge of Stroud and there are farms like this all around the country that have to deal with their own particular set of problems.

"Also farming itself is on a knife edge with some of the difficulties we've had over the last ten years and huge changes are on their way with the Common Agricultural Policy."

She described how some of the people living in towns showed little or no respect for the surrounding farms and she had had problems with everything from dog walkers failing to keep their animals under control to people straying off paths, forcing their way through hedges, fly tipping and taking drugs.

Cows had even been killed by a speeding train after someone left a gate leading onto the railway line wide open.

A lot of the problems come down to a lack of communication or understanding, she said and to this end she is conducting guided walks across her land and inviting local schools to visit.

"The potential for education is enormous," said Julia. "The farm is like an open air classroom."

Already she has had visits from two schools, investigating wildlife and learning about agricultural issues as well as natural geography.

Julia also spoke of the Countryside Right of Way Act and how that might impact on farmers, because walkers assume they have a right to walk wherever they like. The farm is crossed by the Cotswold Way, ever popular with walkers both local and visiting.

Jo Ronald, National Trail officer for the famous footpath, said the way had recently been awarded national trail status and was one of just a handful in the country to be recognised in its way. "We're in the process of upgrading it at the moment," she said.

"We've been replacing some of the more awkward stiles with replicas of the traditional iron squeeze stiles which are very robust and working with the county archaeologists so they can record what's already here.

"We've had to modify some of the older stiles to make them cattle proof and improve access but have tried to do so as sympathetically as possible."

Julia also spoke on the bugbear of modern farming, the changing face of legislation and the Common Agricultural Policy due to be rolled out from Brussels.

"It's very complicated but it is going to mean huge changes to farming, our countryside and the way our food is produced," she said.

"It's going to have a huge impact and I think we're going to see less and less working farms in the future.

"This exodus is already happening. In the South East for the first time ever more farms are being bought by hobby farmers than real ones."

Neighbour and dairy farmer Jane Godsell said: "I think we could end up with a mass exodus of food production.

"Farming is a way of life and it's a good way of life but you don't do it for love, you do it for money and you've got to be able to make a reasonable standard of living out of your work."

She predicted the UK would become much more dependent on imported food and there would be a trend that saw farmers moving away from food into the fuel crop market. "If we have a big food scare somewhere in the world we will want to be this self-sufficient island again and they'll be saying 'where have all our farmers gone?'" she said.

Showing walkers around her dairy Jane explained the milking process, how the cows are rotated around the fields, showed off their 'kennels' in the barn, explained what happens to the slurry and how the cows are fed silage ('pickled' grass) and cake to supplement their grazing.

But she also explained the financial crisis facing dairy farmers at the moment with the dairies and supermarkets creaming off the profits.

"There is no money in it at the moment and beef farming is just as bad," she said. "We were saying 'you can have a free calf with every lump of cheese' a while ago and we were only half joking.

"Nobody took us up on it, but I would rather give calves away than have them shot. "I think we'll be seeing more cows kept as pets in paddocks and less in the fields." Sarah Lunnon, Green councillor for Stroud District Council's Valley ward said it was interesting to realise what the problems were.

"It seems farmers are always saying they are having a difficult time but they really are at the moment."

* Julia Currie is currently inviting Stroud schools to visit her farm. She hopes to promote similar schemes in other parts of the county.