All gas and haters

Being livid with the government is as essential a duty for a farmer as guarding against foot rot, but the scene is set for something a bit different: a mass enactment of The Little Red Hen.

Possibly the prototype agricultural martyr, the chook of the American fable busies herself turning wheat into bread while all the other animals refuse to help with the attendant chores.

Climate change has made many farmers here into admirable Little Red Hens, investing, downsizing and making elaborate changes to reduce their emissions while trying also to maintain productivity. Their reward, like the hen’s bread, was to be