What does Farming do for the Lakeland Walker?

Farming comes in for a lot of bad press, quite rightly in some cases, and often walkers become irritated when Cattle block paths or damage surfaces and oh wouldn’t it be nice if we could let the dog run free! Visitors usually appreciate the stunning landscape and enjoy freely accessing the fells or walking the array of pretty pastoral lowland paths on hand, but what benefit do farmers really bring to Lakeland Walkers?
Well firstly, the livestock keep down vegetation and prevent paths from being overgrown. In areas where no livestock graze, scrubby tall plants soon take over, rendering the path network impenetrable in many places. This level of extra maintenance is beyond the budget of the National Park or national Trust, who would do it?
Good environmentally friendly farm management, allows a mosaic of habitats to flourish, this in turn supports a wide range of wildlife. Much of the enjoyment of being in the Countryside is experiencing the sights, sounds and smells of the constant changing terrain and backdrop. From the sound of the cuckoo in May, the site of the hay meadow flowers with diving swallows in June to the scent of the bog myrtle and heather in August; it is all part of a rich sensual tapestry. Without a Farm’s requirements for a variety of land uses i.e. hay making, grazing, fell land, most land would revert to woodland. Woodland is a worthy host to a great many species but do we want it everywhere?
Farmers create the traditional ‘English’ landscape we have grown to love. A hill farm in the lakes can expect to spend several thousand pounds a year on maintaining the dry stone walls alone, then there is the hedging, ditching, draining, gates, fences and tracks. Our countryside is a living workplace, the features that are now considered attractive, are a by-product of agricultural use.
This pretty landscape supports a vibrant tourism industry that generates the need for accommodation, pubs, cafes and a whole other range of amenities. These businesses provide jobs and income for local people who otherwise would find no way of living in the area. Rural areas and villages without locals become heartless ghost towns lacking in atmosphere.
Hill Farmers are now being subsidised to be custodians of the countryside with far less emphasis on food production, but need it be one or the other? I think not. In a world which is going to have to feed 9 billion mouths within 20 years we may need to make sure every inch of our planet possible is producing food. I do not think that it is sensible to assume that our millions of Acres of rough fell land cannot produce food, with use of traditional hardy breeds; a well managed craggy hillside can graze animals and be beneficial to the local environment. This means that good arable land in low country can be put to use producing grain and vegetable food for humans not feed for animals. If we lose the infrastructure, the hefted flocks, the farming knowledge and the diversity of rare and traditional hardy breeds we could find ourselves much worse off, in times of food shortages.
The problem is that most hill farms are not very profitable and have to rely on diversification to survive. By eating locally reared meats and produce, shopping in the local stores (not in a supermarket before you arrive), staying in farm based accommodation and using farm based facilities you are going a long way to supporting this worthy cause.
Without farming, the landscape becomes a meaningless museum of bygone days, contributing nothing to the population’s food resources, little to the local economy and could be less accessible to people for much needed recreation and relaxation.

Caroline Watson