Rural schools have been closed because of the epidemic. Normal everyday life in the country areas has ground to a standstill. Farmers don't own the countryside. It belongs to all of us. Millions of city dwellers use the countryside every weekend for recreation - walking, cycling, riding, sports and sightseeing.
Farmers are just custodians of the countryside.
And their industry has sealed it off from us. The streetwise commercial farmers already have their hands outstretched for compensation. But the tourism industry will never get that money back. Country tourism actually provides five times as many jobs as farming. And as we come up to the crucial Easter and May bank holiday weekends, it looks as though the country will still be closed for business.