Farming & Forestry - Farming

BSE and the Foot and Mouth epidemic had severe implications for the farming sector.  This is a time of great change and uncertainty for the farming sector: the current change in policy to drive farming closer to the marketplace arising from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms; enlargement of the European Union; World Trade talks; the Mid Term Review; and the decoupling of payments for food production and cross-compliance all contirubute to this.

The Countryside Agency recently published interim advice on the potential impact of CAP reform to protected landscapes (Countryside Agency 2003, Author Rosie Simpson).  It will be necessary to assess the impact of these changes on the AONB over the coming years, and then to incorporate more detailed analysis in the Management Plan review in 2009.

We have seen changes in the structure and type of farming activities across the AONB as a result of increased pressure to diversify, the division of land into smaller units, and land being rented out for arable farming with farmhouses and outbuildings being sold off separately.  The lack of an abattoir and local markets for produce causes difficulties for Island farmers.

The England Rural Development Plan, and its Countryside Stewardship, Processing and Marketing Grant and Vocational scheme have provided useful advice and funding.  The successful local farmers' market also offers a new outlet for local produce, and helps to link local people with local landowners and farmers.  There should be a co-ordinated approach to the provision of advice and help to encourage sustainable farming practice by the farming community.  This should be easy to administer, as the plethora of existing legislative paperwork for the farming community can be daunting.

Trends affecting agriculture within the AONB

• A marked decrease in dairy farming.
• Although there is an increase in the number of holdings for cattle and sheep, the overall stocking level of livestock is in decline:

Total Cattle 1995  -  10,056	Total Cattle 2002  -  6,876
Total Sheep 1995  -  27,366	Total Sheep 2002  -  24,966

• An increase in farm types classified as 'other'.  DEFRA has confirmed that this category covers all small land holdings, including those who had to register for livestock during the 2001 Food and Mouth outbreak for livestock movement licences.  It also includes holdings that are not actively farmed because of retirement or diversification activities such as mushroom farming, etc.
• An increase in holdings of <5 ha and in those that are owned rather than tenanted.  This data has largely changed due to a change in data collections, and the need for registration for livestock movements during the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak.
• An increase in equestrian use of land and the resulting pressure for stabling, fencing and equipment.
• Marketing of small plots via the internet without planning permission for leisure and amenity use, is an increasing threat to sympathetic land mangement and the conservation and enhancement of the AONB.