This sounds promising, but what does ‘conservation’ actually mean? What practices should we put in place? There are four interventions we should consider according to Evans et al. 7

Cherry says there were “a few disappointing years as the soil adjusted, but our costs kept going down”.

While the claims of “only 60 harvests left” were “overblown”, Dr Ritchie said they should not detract from the fact that soil erosion is a problem.

In this beautifully written book, Philip Lymbery describes how intensive agriculture harms the environment and inflicts suffering on sentient animals. But after visiting and talking to those on the front line – scientists, farmers and food providers – he is able to show that there are sustainable alternatives. And that they are working. There is indeed hope for the future of our planet, and each one of us can play a part. I urge you to read Sixty Harvests Left."However, they also highlighted how incredibly complex the calculations needed to make such predictions would be, based on myriad factors, only some of which can be predicted with any reliability, with generalisations almost impossible. The boring reality is that while soils in some parts of the world might be in decline, others are not. Let’s focus on the ‘conventionally managed’ soils, shown in blue. These data are relevant for understanding many of the world’s farming practices. We will look at conservation techniques later. The chilling title is the red flag; the contents, however, lay out all the remedies to save the planet and its species, including ours, and make for absorbing and sometimes terrifying reading. Minutely researched, and written for laymen as well as experts, Sixty Harvests Left reads like a thriller. It deserves to be read worldwide and acted upon immediately. I cannot recommend it highly enough." The data, based on a global assessment of 4,285 erosion estimates from 240 studies across 38 countries, revealed that: Through conservation agriculture, farmers can reduce costs, use fewer chemicals and rebuild biological life in the soil, making it healthier, more resilient to extreme weather and able to support more wildlife. It’s win-win for farmers, the people they feed and the environment.”

Philip Lymbery pulls no punches in cataloguing the calamitous mistakes we've made in our food system, but he has bold and inspiring solutions to offer, too' Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Furthermore, while agriculture may be one of the factors driving erosion and nutrient depletion, many modern farming practices such as no-till and synthetic fertiliser applications may actually be helping alleviate (rather than drive) this. In fact, according to many objective measures, modern, evidence-based farming techniques are more sustainable than those of an idealised past. Quite a different picture to that painted by the headlines. Sixty Harvests Left describes how, far from being ‘a necessary evil’, factory farming is threatening the very survival of our planet and that ending the industrialisation of the countryside is key to saving our children’s future. Everything is linked together The FAO calculated that 24bn tonnes of fertile or 12m hectares of topsoil are lost every year – at a rate of 30 football pitches of soil every minute. Evans, D. L., Quinton, J. N., Davies, J. A. C., Zhao, J., & Govers, G. (2020). Soil lifespans and how they can be extended by land use and management change. Environmental Research Letters, 15(9), 0940b2.

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Philip Lymbery is ideally-placed to write this important and timely investigation into the present and future of food and farming. As Chief Executive of Compassion in World Farming he has a wealth of knowledge and experience; he's travelled widely in his investigations, spoken at international conferences and written two previous books on different aspects of this subject: Farmageddon and Where the Wild Things Were (both of which are on my shelves). New research reveals US-style mega-farm numbers have risen to nearly 1,100, including 745 poultry mega-farms in England and 59 in Wales, bringing into question the country’s claim to be a nation of animal lovers.