Farming in the Uplands - ARCHIVE: Defra

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)