The disputes between farmers and conservationists over the steep, decline in farmland birds has been going on for years.

Bodies like the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds regularly accuse modern farming techniques for killing off thousands of favourite species like the skylark and the barn owl whereas the farmers say that, as custodians of the countryside, they do what they can whilst battling with the demand for ever greater food production.

Now there is some truth on both sides but some of the damage has been done by neither.

One of the greatest disasters was organised by Government, which last century paid out generous grants encouraging farmers to grub out thousands of miles of hedgerows, thus destroying the nesting spaces and insect life on which many birds depend.

Here in the Yorkshire Dales, the fashion of barn conversions destroyed the habitat for hundreds of owls, swallows, swifts (and bats).

But a countrywide effort to close the gap between two sides has been launched by none other than Prince Charles in the week of February 1 to 7, when hundreds of farmers are being asked to take part in the Big Farmland Bird Count, which was highlighted by the Prince when he guest-edited Country Life magazine last autumn.

The count is being organised by the Game and Wildlife Trust (WGT) a science-based body which for years has been studying the various threats to farmland birds, including predation by foxes, stoats, mink and members of the crow family – predators that can be controlled by farmers and game keepers.

The GWT scrupulously compiles statistics to track such predation but needs an accurate census on which to base future action, thus the Big Farmland Bird Count.

All farmers and landowners are urged to take part. For more information, see www.gwct.org.uk/bfbc.