Farming in the Uplands - ARCHIVE: Defra

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Ev 68 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee: Evidence Written evidence submitted by Department for Environment, Food and Rural AVairs Introduction 1. This memorandum sets out the Government’s current thinking on farming in the uplands of England, drawing on the considerable evidence base that already exists. 2. This is primarily drawn from the reports below: — Farming in the English Uplands, Defra Agricultural Change and Environment Observatory, May 2010. — Uplands Farm Practice Survey, Defra, 2009. — Commission for Rural Communities (CRC): High ground, high potential—a future for England’s Upland communities. — Economic and environmental impacts of changes in support measures for the English Uplands: An in-depth forward look from the farmer’s perspective, Countryside and Community Research Institute and Food and Environment Research Agency. The Geography of the Uplands 3. There is no statutory definition for the uplands. Within this Memorandum, Less Favoured Areas (LFA) boundaries have been used to define an “upland” farm4 (see fig.1). Recognising that agricultural practices can vary significantly by region, the 2009 Upland Farm Practices Survey identified nine separate upland regions. 4. 74% of England’s National Parks fall in LFAs. One of the statutory roles of National Parks is to conserve and enhance their natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage. In total 62% of the LFA is designated as either a National Park, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and/or SSSI. Many SSSIs are also designated as Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and/or Special Areas of Conservation (SAC). Figure 1: The nine upland regions identified for Uplands Farm Practice Survey 2009—Uplands and other Less Favoured Areas EMBARGOED ADVANCE COPY: Not to be published in full, or part, in any form before 00.01am GMT Wednesday 16 February 2011 4 LFAs were established in 1975 as a means to support mountainous and hill farming areas but were later widened to include other disadvantaged areas. The LFA designation is currently being reviewed at EU level, but the present LFAs in England are subdivided into two areas: “severely disadvantaged areas (SDA)” and “disadvantaged areas (DA)”
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee: Evidence Ev 69 The Habitats of the Uplands 5. The uplands are a mosaic of semi-natural habitats that vary considerably across these regions. They are largely, but not exclusively, above the upper limits of enclosed farmland and are mainly open expanses shaped to some extent by human activities. 6. A wide range of habitats are found including wet and dry dwarf shrub heaths, blanket bog and other mires, scrub, bracken and grasslands (including acid, calcareous and neutral). There are also montane habitats, occurring on the highest fells above the natural tree-line, and rocky outcrops, screes and limestone pavement. Larger enclosures (referred to as allotments, intakes or newtakes) supporting similar vegetation are often included, eg upland calcareous grassland is generally enclosed. Upland woodland may also be present. Each of these upland habitats supports a range of species. 7. Rough grazing occurs on unenclosed moorland and large-scale, extensively managed enclosures. In addition, there may be enclosed areas of better grazing or “in-bye” land which may have been improved to some degree, although important unimproved grasslands also occur locally. Upland Hay Meadow is an entirely closed “in-bye” habitat. 8. More detail on the characteristics of upland habitats can be found in Annex A. The Characteristics of Upland Farming 9. The principal output of farming in the uplands is livestock (beef and sheep meat production) although dairying is also important in some regions. The uplands system of livestock farming has long been seen as an important contributor to the national beef and sheep industries by providing breeding and finishing stock to lowland farming systems. This is particularly notable in the stratified structure of the sheep industry in the UK. As of June 2009, 44% of sheep in England were located in the uplands. 10. The majority of farms are very small and either long established or first generation family farms. Around half of the land is owner occupied with most of the remainder under tenancies of 1 year or more. Only 5% of land is rented for less than one year. Most upland farmers own at least part of the land on their holding and about a quarter have a combination of tenure arrangements, mostly a mixture of owner occupation and longer term (more than one year) tenancies. Very few upland farms (0.5%) have share or contract farming agreements. 5 11. Much of the unenclosed, unimproved grazing in the uplands is common land (approximately 14% of land in the LFA and 37% of land above the “moorland line” 6 ). Most commons have an owner but commoners (generally, neighbouring farmers) have rights to graze livestock on them. The combination of grazing rights and statutory protection means that common land is uniquely protected from development and agricultural intensification. In terms of heritage and many environmental factors, this can be beneficial. However, the multiple interests in common land can make consensus diYcult to achieve, and this sometimes results in poor or ineVective management. There is evidence7 for declining levels of grazing on some upland commons, and the special nature of grazing practices such as hefting on common land may make the reduction or cessation of “commoning” costly or impossible to reverse. EMBARGOED ADVANCE COPY: Not to be published in full, or part, in any form before 00.01am GMT Wednesday 16 February 2011 5 Farming in the English Uplands, Defra Agricultural Change and Environment Observatory 6 The Moorland line was first drawn in 1992 (subsequently updated in 2007) and is used by Government to establish which areas of England’s LFA are designated as moorland and non-moorland for administrative purposes; the line is used to diVerentiate between payment levels under various support schemes, including the Single Payment Scheme in which areas above the moorland line receive a lower payment. 7 Trends in pastoral communing [NECR001] (NE, 2009)
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Farming in the Uplands - ARCHIVE: Defra

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