This is one of our local farms. When farmers are gone, who helps ? When a field catches fire, something remarkable happens in the countryside. Before the last fire engine has even arrived, neighbouring farmers are already on their way. Tractors leave fields half-finished. Cultivators and ploughs are used to cut firebreaks. Water bowsers appear from nowhere. Everyone has one aim: stop the fire, protect wildlife, save crops and, above all, keep people’s homes safe. Look at these photographs. See just how close the flames came to those houses. I’ve often said that farmers are Britain’s fourth emergency service, and days like this prove it. They don’t ask who owns the field or whose problem it is. They simply turn up. It’s time this Government @UKLabour started recognising farmers for what they really are: not just food producers, but environmental custodians, protectors of our countryside and champions of our rural communities. The next time you see a farmer driving towards a fire instead of away from it, remember that’s what real public service looks like. @FarmersWeekly @FarmersGuardian @BBCBreakfast @SkyNews @loosecollie @GBNEWS @MartinDaubney @agricontract @JeremyClarkson