Hill farming
Modern hill farming is often heavily dependent on state subsidy, for example in the United Kingdom it received support from the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy.
[1] Upland areas are usually covered with both dry and wet dwarf shrub heath and, rough and either managed or unmanaged improved grasslands.
[4] The High fell includes peat moors and rocky areas which provide poor grazing at the top.
[1] The UK government has designated different areas in the upland as specifically valuable by certain terms of the environment, biodiversity, archaeology, cultural heritage and landscape, and seeks to protect these regions for such reasons.
[1] According to the UK government, these designated areas and their qualifications as such are: Over the past century, Hill farming and the upland environment have undergone a number of changes.
[2] This in turn supports local wildlife, as the short vegetation provides breeding and nesting grounds for many species of waders, including the lapwing, redshank, and golden plover.
[2] The land used to grow winter feed that are not mowed are able to provide protection for a variety of birds including skylarks, partridge, and corncrakes who build on their nests on the ground.
[2] Agricultural use, burning, and grazing by both livestock and wild life such as deer, helps to sustain the upland grasslands, moorland and bogs.
[6] The decline in grazing animals accompanied with the milder winters experienced in recent years has caused an overgrowth in vegetation, putting the ecosystem, as well as various archaeological sites at risk.
[5] Hill farm incomes in the UK have recently seen great decrease following drops in lamb and beef prices.
[6] Therefore, subsidy support has become vital for Hill farm survival, and the policies have been changing in response to continuous uncertainty in the sector.
[7] The CAP provided production-based direct (headage) which gave incentive to stock beef cattle and sheep at high densities.
[1] Subsidies from the SPS are not dependent on production, granting greater freedom to farmers to meet market demands.
[1] In order to receive these subsidies, hill farmers must meet cross compliance rules and regulations, which mainly involves avoidance of overgrazing and unsuitable supplementary feeding on natural and semi-natural vegetation under GAEC (standard of good agricultural and environmental condition).
[1] Certain upland farmers and communities also have access to funding from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) team at Defra.
The average southwest English hill farm system in unable to match labour and capital invest in the business.
[5] The income from calves and lambs has remained constant, while the costs of farm upkeep have risen sharply (including items such as feed, straw, fuel, or fertilizer).
[5] Opportunities for farmers to supplement their farm income by working in industries such as quarrying or mining are largely no longer available.
[5] As discussed in an article on the Carnegie UK Trust Rural Community Development Programme site:[11] The Foot and Mouth outbreak in Cumbria in 2001 led to the culling of over a million sheep.
