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State of Farming in Exmoor 2015 Report

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State of Farming in Exmoor 2015 Report The State of Farming in Exmoor 2015 Final report, 21 May 2015 Prepared by Janet Dwyer, Jane Mills, John Powell, Nick Lewis, Pete Gaskell and Jonathan Felton; CCRI, University of Gloucestershire Summary of Project Project Title: The State of Farming in Exmoor, 2015 Client Reference: Start Date: November 2014 Finish Date: May 2015 Duration: 6 months Project Manager Janet Dwyer, Professor of Rural Policy, Director of CCRI Research Team (all CCRI): Janet Dwyer Peter Gaskell Jane Mills John Powell Nick Lewis Jonathan Felton Date of Report: 8 May 2015 University of Gloucestershire Oxstalls Lane Gloucester Gloucestershire GL2 9HW www.ccri.ac.uk When quoting this report please use the following citation: Dwyer, J., Mills, J., Powell, J. Lewis, N., Gaskell, P., Felton, J. (2015) The State of Farming in Exmoor, 2015, Final Report to North Devon Plus. CCRI: Gloucester. 1 Acknowledgements and disclaimers We are grateful for all the practical help and information provided by Katherine Williams and Jenny Carey-Wood in particular, and all Exmoor Hill Farming Network steering group members, during the course of this research, as well as to all the farmers who returned questionnaires and took part in the workshop and/or telephone survey. Many provided detailed information over and above what was asked for, and all of this has been extremely useful to us. All errors and omissions are the responsibility of the authors. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by the University of Gloucestershire, the Exmoor Hill Farming Network, North Devon Plus or the Exmoor National Park Authority. Copyright rests with the CCRI, University of Gloucestershire. Winsford Hill – courtesy Exmoor National Park Authority Cover picture – courtesy Ian Condliffe 2 List of abbreviations • AES Agri-environment Scheme • BPS Basic Payment Scheme (replaces SPS from 1 January 2015) • bTB Bovine Tuberculosis • CCRI Countryside and Community Research Institute, University of Gloucestershire • CS Countryside Stewardship (new scheme to be introduced in 2015, replacing ES) • CSS Countryside Stewardship Scheme (1992-2004) • DA Disadvantaged Area (the less marginal LFA land) • Defra Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs • EHFN Exmoor Hill Farming Network • ENPA Exmoor National Park Authority • ELS Entry-Level Environmental Stewardship scheme (2005-2014) • ES Environmental Stewardship scheme (2005-2014) • ESA Environmentally-Sensitive Area scheme (Exmoor had a dedicated ESA, 1992-2004) • LFA Less Favoured Area as designated under EU legislation • HFA Hill Farm Allowance scheme (2001-2010) • HLS Higher-Level Environmental Stewardship scheme (2005-2014) • RDPE Rural Development Programme for England • SDA Severely Disadvantaged Area (the most marginal LFA land) • SPS Single farm Payment Scheme (introduced in 2005, replaced headage and area payments) • UELS Upland Entry-Level Environmental Stewardship scheme (2010-2014; introduced to replace the HFA scheme but more targeted towards tangible environmental benefits) 3 Contents Summary of Project ................................................................................................................................. 1 Acknowledgements and disclaimers ....................................................................................................... 2 List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ 3 Contents .............................................................................................................................................. 4 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 6 Findings – secondary data analysis ..................................................................................................... 6 Findings – farm survey ......................................................................................................................... 7 Conclusions and recommendations .................................................................................................... 8 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Results of secondary data analysis .................................................................................................. 2 2.1. Exmoor farming characteristics and trends ............................................................................ 2 Land use .......................................................................................................................................... 2 Farm structural characteristics ....................................................................................................... 3 Livestock numbers .......................................................................................................................... 4 Holding size ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Farm tenure .................................................................................................................................... 7 2.2. Farm business characteristics and practices ........................................................................... 7 Labour ............................................................................................................................................. 8 Farm business income .................................................................................................................... 9 Net Farm Income ............................................................................................................................ 9 Debt .............................................................................................................................................. 11 Diversification ............................................................................................................................... 11 2.3. Overview ................................................................................................................................ 12 3. Literature review: Trends in and characteristics of hill and upland farming in England ............... 13 3.1. Current state of hill farming .................................................................................................. 13 3.2. Policy- History and context .................................................................................................... 16 3.3. Current policy ........................................................................................................................ 17 3.4. Prospects and concerns for the future .................................................................................. 20 3.5. Interim conclusions ............................................................................................................... 21 4. Exmoor Farm Survey 2015 ............................................................................................................. 23 4.1 Overview of the survey process ............................................................................................ 23 4.2 Characteristics of the survey sample ..................................................................................... 24 4 4.3 Comparison to Defra Survey data and findings ..................................................................... 27 4.4 Trends 2005 – 2015 ............................................................................................................... 28 Changes in a range of farming activities....................................................................................... 29 4.5 Impacts arising from changes to the CAP .............................................................................. 31 4.6 Diversification ........................................................................................................................ 33 4.7 Experience with agri-environment schemes ......................................................................... 34 4.8 Collaborative working ............................................................................................................ 36 4.9 The future .............................................................................................................................. 37 4.10 Major concerns ...................................................................................................................... 40 4.11 The telephone survey – overview of responses ........................................................................ 41 4.12 Further combined analysis of patterns in farm business change .............................................. 41 Business characteristics ................................................................................................................ 41 Investments .................................................................................................................................. 47 Livestock management and land use ........................................................................................... 48 Summary ......................................................................................................................................
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