Sir – Many years ago — before you stripped your editorial of its clock, and long before you turned The Oxford Times into a tabloid — there was a significant farming column in the news section of the paper.

As soon as the column stopped, there was a major farming story; bovine spongiform encephalitis (mad cow disease) and its association with human CJD.

Since then we have had the foot and mouth epidemic, bluetongue disease, the collapse in bee colonies, bird flu and many other stories of national importance which must have had enormous impact on Oxfordshire farmers and deserved detailed coverage. Your excellent Country Matters pages, while very enjoyable, have a different focus. You devote a whole supplement to house sales, with prominent editorial content on desirable properties.

But where’s the acknowledgement that inflated house and land prices are one of the biggest problems for anyone wanting to take up farming in Oxfordshire?

Oxfordshire is a farming county — we have some of the best agricultural land in the country.

The world is changing. Local production of food is going to become much more important. Bring back the farming column! (and maybe the clock as well…).

Mari Girling, Oxford