Once again, the news headlines on every media channel are to do with war and the risks associated with the threats from terrorists, and almost everyone I speak to shares the same serious concerns, even the farmers.

The vast majority of the farming community - from the lowliest farm worker to the largest of the landowners - has, however, an even greater worry to add to these concerns, that of the complete meltdown currently facing farming and all its allied industries.

What no one in the industry can understand is why food production is being deliberately run down during the worst crisis to affect this country since 1939.

My memories of that last great war were of rationing of food and many other commodities. Everyday things like oranges and bananas disappeared from the shops in our villages and, almost every summer evening after tea, we watched the bombers flying east on their way to bomb families just like ours in Europe.

Sometimes the enemy struck back at us too, we had bombs dropped on our farm one very frightening night. Even today, there are still grim reminders of the suffering and grief which affected so many people because of the war.

Very few people I know are in favour of another conflict in spite of the predictions by the pundits that it will only last a short time. Both of the great wars were going to be over by Christmas.

Wars throughout the ages have never been without their surprises and the unexpected often happens, with flying bombs and the atom bomb of the Second World War being prime examples.

As science moves inexorably on, new ways can always be found to kill or terrorise people. Today, the fear is centred on germ warfare or maybe even suicide bombers ready to give their lives as a sacrifice for a cause which we are unable to comprehend and never will understand.

Every two or three days recently, there has been news of another arrest with people detained for questioning and armed soldiers and police are seen on television patrolling the airports as if a major incident is expected any moment.

This is Great Britain 2003 with multi-million pound flying machines patrolling our skies and Fylingdales early warning site on the alert for incoming missiles from around the world.

But it now seems that the real threat to our country is expected from the enemy within. Today, we are a multi-cultured country and almost every race on earth is represented in our society.

This is Britain today and whilst our rulers try to look as if they are taking the threat of war and terrorist attacks very seriously, the opinion polls show that confidence amongst the population in this government is waning.

Amongst the farming community and country people who, by their nature, are very practical, there is an air of amazement about what most of them regard as the most serious threat. This is the threat to our food supplies.

In this country, we have sufficient food to last the population for about three weeks, which is quite normal for any European nation, but Great Britain is an island and this week has already seen one major airport closed and others under armed guard by troops because of an undisclosed threat.

But what about the ports and the Channel Tunnel where controls are almost non-existent? If, like September 11, a few fanatics were to decide to close our ports with a few well-placed bombs, how long will our food stocks last? The policy of this administration has been "food from anywhere", the only criteria being "it must be cheap".

This war, which it seems we are about to wage, might not follow a conventional pattern. Israel has been fighting with the Palestinians for a long time with no settlement in sight because there are very few defences one can erect which will keep a determined fanatic at bay.

In this country, we have gone down the road of centralisation and massive units in every respect. It is no longer possible to get milk from the farmer down the road and most of the smaller shops have closed down. This makes our food supplies very vulnerable and very easy to disrupt as the lorry drivers blockade proved just a little while ago. The stockpile of home-produced food stuffs which used to be kept on farms is disappearing as British farmers are forced out of business by current government policies. Today, just as in 1939, the population of this country relies on vulnerable boats and planes for bought-in food supplies. This is a very dangerous policy.

Last Thursday night in Parliament, a handful of MPs banned beagling, stag hunting and hare coursing - which makes me think that these fairly harmless field sports must be a serious threat to our nation at this very worrying time. Our enemies must have died with laughter.

Updated: 10:30 Wednesday, February 19, 2003