EBLEX, the UK beef and sheep industry body, has released a report which it claims shows the crucial role livestock farming plays in maintaining the English countryside. However, aspects of the report appear to ignore the realities of modern farming.

EBLEX said the ‘Landscapes without Livestock’ report, conducted by Land Use Consultants (LUC) and commissioned by EBLEX, examined the potential effects that removing sheep and cattle farming from areas of the English countryside could have on a cross-section of landscapes.  EBLEX said it commissioned the report in response to pressure groups which have recommended consumers reduce the amount of meat they eat to protect the environment.

image expired

It chose upland on the North York Moors, hillsides in Exmoor, rotational pasture in the Vale of Pickering, permanent pasture in Romney Marsh and moorland on Dartmoor. LUC took panoramic photographs of each area and attempted to illustrate possible changes to the landscape after three, 10 and 30 years, if current land management practices ceased.

Nick Allen, EBLEX sector director, said of the projections, “Landscapes without Livestock is an independent and authoritative project that adds expert evidence to the debate about the beef and lamb sector and its impact on the environment. It is important that the many positives about livestock production are not ignored.

“Arguments from some quarters have called for livestock numbers to be reduced as an effective way to cut environmental emissions. However, simplistically looking at that issue in isolation ignores many of the beneficial aspects that livestock bring to their respective environments. The striking images, coupled with the narratives of change in the report, powerfully illustrate the possible effects of removing or significantly reducing livestock numbers and we hope will add balance to the debate going forward.”

Simplistic arguments

However, although the study shows the beneficial effects outdoor livestock systems have in preserving certain land types in their current state, the emotive photomontages, which show how a decline in outdoor beef and sheep farming would affect the specifically chosen landscapes does not appear to take the general trend of industrialisation into account, which in itself will prove a driver for changing land use.

The study also ignores the problems which changes in livestock systems have brought to parts of the countryside; increases in the sheep herd being grazed in areas of Yorkshire since the 1950s has reduced the number and variety of herbaceous plants characteristic to the area. In some areas, such as Wharfdale, where sheep grazing on limestone pavement has impacted on rare plant species, moves have been made to alter the balance and attempt to ‘turn back the clock’ to preserve biodiversity.

Traditional grazing of a variety of animals in the Yorkshire Dales, where mixed grazing with sheep and upland cattle over hundreds of years helped create the wonderful diversity of plant species and other wildlife, the move towards more specialised sheep farming has in itself led to the growth of rank grasses, threatening certain species and impacting on structural diversity.

In some places, bought-in feed, which is used in outdoor systems to help maintain stock condition, has also resulted in damage to grassland by introducing foreign species.

Upshot of Government White Paper

In May this year, a government White Paper, which provided a comprehensive assessment of Britain's natural landscape compiled by over 400 authors over two years, recommended revolutionary overhauls in the way the countryside is managed. The most controversial of these was the suggestion that farmers in areas where their business is loss-making, resulting in a reliance on subsidies, should instead be paid to convert to recreational woodlands or nature reserves.

One of the report’s authors recommended farmers in areas such as North East Wales, where farming produces low-value high-input food like lamb, would be better used as wildlife habitats or recreation areas for nearby urban areas, such as Liverpool, Manchester and Wrexham. The report proposed farmers should be rewarded for planting trees and providing carbon sequestration instead of farming livestock. However, the Farmers’ Union of Wales reacted strongly to the suggestions stating that food production should be the priority for British farmers with the consideration of a rising population.

In November, research by the Welsh sheep farming industry revealed costs in sheep farming have risen so sharply that they have out-stripped improved market returns for lamb producers. The researchers said that many farmers had nothing to show for their more profitable produce as a result of rises in input costs, mainly of feed.

Tweet