The Last Straw

Description

This Anglia Television Farming Diary report on straw burning shows how one East Anglian farmer came to give up the practice after researching the film. Burning straw after the harvest causes a lot of problems. It destroys wildlife habitats, kills wildlife, leads to road accidents and sends black smuts into urban areas. For the farmer, it is conveniet and a cheap way if disposing of waste product and at the same time creating a good bed for next year’s crop of cereals. The film looks at some of the alternative uses for the straw. It can be made into board for building, or into paper, but another use is feed for live stock – all it needs is the addition of heat and ammonia. However, the most profitable solution to surplus straw may still involve burning it. One farmer has saved thousands of pounds in one year on fuels costs since he replaced his oil fired boiler with a straw burner. In Denmark a whole community is heated with a mixture of refuse and straw. It is even possible to compress the straw into brickettes which will burn a domestic fire, giving half the calorific value of coal.

This film made in 1983 reflects the politcial issues of the time it was made. The imagery and film quality may not be to modern standards but the environmental and energy issues raised in this film are still as relevant as ever.

The Last Straw from Concord Media on Vimeo.