Grassland focus for first northern uplands conference

With the hill farming sector facing the biggest shake-up of their operating ‘landscape’ for a generation, the NFU and EBLEX are joining forces to stage the region’s first Northern Uplands Conference in February.

The half-day event, sponsored by HSBC, is being organised against the backdrop of shrinking budgets for both pillars of the Common Agricultural Policy, affecting direct payments and agri-environment programmes. This will leave the region’s hill farmers with some stark choices to make in the coming months.

“Despite the government’s recognition of the importance of the hill farming sector to the country’s unique stratified livestock industry and the wider rural economy, the impact of changes to agri-environment programmes in particular looks set to hit the industry hard,” said NFU regional uplands adviser Laurie Norris.

“It is in response to this that the Uplands Conference was conceived to focus on the challenge ahead and provide an opportunity to debate possible strategies for optimising farming in the hills while still delivering on the environment.”

Given that the policies of successive CAP reviews have actively encouraged hill farmers to embrace environmental management, many have significantly reduced their productive capacity, introducing low-input grassland management and reducing stock numbers.


As a result, those now seeking to increase their productivity in the face of falling incomes will need to plan carefully. Increasing grassland productivity will be a major challenge for most, so this will be the focus of the conference, with a range of specialist speakers outlining possible strategies.

There will also be a section devoted to business planning to help farmers ensure their plans are robust and financially viable.

“While other sectors, such as the dairy industry, have been compelled to embrace new technologies and techniques to help drive down costs, the livestock sector and particularly upland livestock businesses have been slower see the potential benefits,” added Laurie Norris.

“This is something we want to encourage and we hope to follow this conference with further events exploring other key areas such as genetics and breeding.

Clive Brown, EBLEX Head of Regional Development said: “We are happy to work with the NFU to deliver these two conferences focusing on upland farming.

“We recognise the increasing challenges of farming in the uplands and our aim is to help farmers optimise the performance of their business. The main technical focus is managing grassland performance and utilisation whilst maximising environmental benefits in the uplands.”

The Conference will be chaired by the NFU national uplands spokesman Robin Milton who said: “There has been a lot of uncertainty facing hill farmers over the past 18 months with a number of contributing factors such as the weather, rising costs and disease leading to hill farmers getting less for their produce while facing increasing production costs. It is absolutely vital these farmers are treated fairly and rewarded for their hard work if they are to keep on delivering for future generations.


“I don’t think there is one right answer. Individual farmers have to make individual decisions. You really have to only take on what fits your farming business. Be critical of yourself but do what you’re comfortable with. Look objectively and make informed choices based on agri-environment schemes and such like.”