Farmers urged to have their say in upland support reviews

Hill farms in the Lake District, Bowland Forest and Peak District National Park in East Cheshire will mostly be classified as being in a Less Favourable Area (LFA) and receive European monetary support to assist them in protecting the landscapes.

However, the European Commission has agreed in principle to replace the LFA system with Areas facing Natural Constraint or ANCs (land facing natural or specific constraints) and want to introduce the new system in line with the 2014 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform.

Simplistically, this could mean existing areas of LFA are no longer designated so won’t receive support and new areas outside the current LFA could potentially be subject to designation.

Existing LFA land in England has been designated since the 1970s. If the Commission’s proposals to move away from LFA towards ANC designation come to fruition, it will mean significant changes to land designation which may well be in place for the next 40 years.

Initial Defra indications suggest that there may be a small net increase in the area of land designated in England as ANC, compared to the existing LFA, but what's extremely concerning to the NFU are the potential changes on the maps at a local level. Defra estimates that around 12 per cent of the current LFA falls out of ANC designation.

The NFU is consulting members affected to test whether the proposed areas properly reflect agricultural constraints, but strongly urge members to take part in this consultation or run the risk of having land incorrectly classified.

Garnering support in the North West was Robin Milton who is chairman of the NFU hill and upland farming group and a mixed farmer from Exmoor.

On 14 March Milton spoke to farmers at Newton Rigg College and Kendal Auction Mart before heading to Slaidburn Village Hall in Lancashire on March 15. Mr Milton also spoke to Cheshire NFU members at a joint meeting with NFU Derbyshire which took place at Chapel-en-le-Frith Golf Club on March 8.

Milton said: "With any consultation that affects your future, you have to make sure you’re involved. It’s an odd consultation though because we don’t know what the real effects will be due to the impending CAP reform. However, we have to make sure the maps are accurate and that there’s a decent appeals process put in place.”

Talking about farming more generally in the uplands, Milton added: "As well as producing food, productive hill farms protect national assets: iconic landscapes, internationally important wildlife habitats and the majority of the UK’s carbon storage.

"They also provide the backdrop for the tourism industry. Recognition of farming and the pivotal role farmers play in land management are the first steps in securing sustainable and thriving farmed landscapes across the whole of the country’s hills and uplands.

"Hill farmers need respect as they look after the uplands on a daily basis and we must ensure these iconic landscapes are maintained and accessible to the public. 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.”

Defra has provided an interactive map to accompany the consultation which allows farmers to search using place name and postcode against a number of different criteria.

The maps allow farmers to identify whether any particular area of land (down to the field parcel level) is within the published iteration of Areas facing Natural Constraint.