hedgerows and tree lines

running around doing some sunday afternoon errands took me south into lake county and i stumbled on something seldom seen these days...not around here anyway...i found a cornfield that was bracketed on the south side by a tree line and on the west and north ( i did not see the east side..the road veered away from the field before i got there )hedgerows...in an era of industrial farming, with its heavy reliance on machinery, trees and hedgerows would seem to be an impediment...in the words of a farmer in the film "king corn"..."you can get a lot done if you aren't turning around all the time."...in other words a straight, flat, unbroken field is the optimum trajectory for a tractor or combine...another issue is in modern farming straight lines and open space as an aesthetic means hedgerows look sloppy and unkempt....a derelict field...no hedgerows and trees won't help linear farming...so what do they provide...wind break and perennial roots to hold a file in place...the soil may be bare but the edges serve to contain it far better than open fields...habitat...critters abound in the shelter and many of them are predators that prey on the critters that eat crops...natural pest control...chemical free and at little cost to the farmer...that's fine with this gardener...you can see gaps in the hedgerow that are clearly meant to move machinery in and out of the field through...there were several gaps on each side and access is the only purpose i could feature for them...the local supermarket is dabbling in community supported agriculture...for a fee you can sign up and take weekly delivery of five different locally grown crops...whatever is in season...wouldn't be surprised to find this farm is part of that or some other similar program...getting chemicals off the farm is imperative one would think...a step in that direction is always good to see.