Traditional ploughland is disappearing. Seven cornfield flowers have become extinct in the past 20 years. Once abundant, the corn bunting and the lapwing are on the Red List. The corncrake is all but extinct in England. And the hare is running for its life. The author of The Wild Life and Meadowland tells the story of the wild animals and plants that live in and under our ploughland: from the labouring microbes to the patrolling kestrel above the corn, from the linnet pecking at seeds to the seven-spot ladybird that eats the aphids that eat the crop. He talks to Kitty Corrigan.