Upland farmers criticise binary approach

AT the Groundswell Festival in Suffolk earlier this month, Defra Secretary Steve Reed intimated that the Government's new land-use framework would involve taking some of the poorest land out of food production. This could mean paying upland farmers not to produce food, but to ‘make space for Nature’ instead, with more productive land being supported to increase output. Yorkshire Dales farmer and National Parks England chairman Neil Heseltine disagrees with this binary approach: ‘A lot of Nature doesn't want to live on the top of a hill,’ he observes. ‘Both lowland and upland farms can be beneficial for the environment and still produce food.’

- Jane Wheatley

Mr Heseltine reduced his sheep numbers some years ago and introduced Belted Galloway cattle to graze the hill all year round. ‘We're selective with stocking density, the swards are longer and we saw more and more species appear, together with invertebrates, hares, curlew, meadow pipits—and cows calving among it all.’ His remaining sheep graze hay meadows until the end of April: ‘Tight grazing can give some species that don't like competing with grass a better chance to get established. Then we won't cut until August to get as many species flowering as possible.’ The switch has reduced his workload, improved botanical biodiversity