The National Sheep Association (NSA) has appealed to politicians to acknowledge that the sector delivers multiple benefits for nature as well as for food production.
The organisation’s chief executive, Phil Stocker, called for an end to “silo thinking” by policy-makers when he addressed the NSA’s flagship Sheep Event at the Three Counties Showground at Malvern.
He said: “We encouragingly hear talk of land-sharing being the ideal – but then go on to talk about payments for farms to take land out of production.
“We still hear that less productive land should become habitat land, without recognising that habitat for butterflies, birds and much more comes from the farming system, not from land set aside for nature.
“Most sheep farms have and want both.”
Mr Stocker acknowledged that the role of grassland is more widely recognised than it once was, but he said a threat remained that lower-quality, cheaper agricultural land is viewed as only suitable for tree planting and habitat creation.
He said that attitude risked damaging “a truly multifunctional farming system and swapping it for something that negatively changes the landscape, ecology, rural communities and culture forever”.
Mr Stocker shared a platform with Defra politicians, animal welfare experts and academics whom he praised for working to develop future support policy for sheep production south of the border. However, he added: “I also know our farmers are working hard, too.
“In this era of change, they are doing their day jobs – often with less help than they would have had in the past – and then coming back in at night and having to keep up with Defra announcements, Defra announcements, updates and engagement, trade deal development, new assurance standards, trade deal development, new assurance standards, prepare for inspections, and deal with a host of additional red tape.
“It is easy to forget that pretty much all sheep farms are small and medium-sized businesses that don’t have the luxury of compliance officers, animal welfare
officers, general managers or interns to pass work on to.
“I believe the opportunities ahead outweigh the challenges and there is a positive future for those willing to grasp it.”