"Born out of Crisis": an analysis of moorland management agreements on Exmoor; final report

The designation of Exmoor National Park in 1954 recognised the importance of the open character of much of the area and, in particular, its moorland to that natural heritage of the UK. However, the moorland that the park was charged with maintaining and enhancing was soon under threat and the following years saw extensive moorland loss and the fragmentation of remaining moorland (Lowe et al, 1986). The ensuing moorland conflict and debate eventually lead Exmoor NPA, in collaboration with farmers, land owners, the CLA and NFU to pioneer a new system of moorland management agreements. Indeed, for a short time, Exmoor was the only location operating wholly voluntary management agreements (Brotherton, 1990). Only two agreements now remain and in the twenty-five years since their inception much has changed. Once castigated for their "theft of the countryside" (Shoard, 1980), many farmers now work in partnership with statutory and non-statutory organisations as 'stewards' of the countryside. The purpose of this chapter is to review the policy and economic changes affecting farming over this time and to review the development of Exmoor moorland management agreements.Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

'It's definitely a good time to be a farmer': Understanding the changing dynamics of successor creation in late modern society

This is the final version of the article. Available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.This paper considers the implications of the wider systemic shift from modernity to late modernity, on the process of intergenerational farm transfer. The paper argues that the shift from the collective to the individual, indicative of late modern society, is particularlypertinent in the context of intergenerational transfer, which has long been rooted in collective thinking. Drawing on the perspectives of incumbent farmers and potential successors, the paper utilises results from semi-structured interviews with 29 farmers and 19 potential successors in Devon, England. Using a thematic analysis, the paper provides a nuanced understanding of the impact of the systemic shift and the associated emphasis on the individual on successor identification. Although the paper reaffirms understanding of successor creation as a collective process, determined by factors such as gender and birth order, it also identifies an emergent cohort of younger potential successors, for whom succession was the outcome of an evaluation of farming as a career. It concludes that, within the case study area, modernization is changing the way in which farm children are identifying themselves as ‘the successor’. The paper suggests how this increasingly judicious approach to succession, leaves reproduction of the family farm increasingly vulnerable to negative externalities

Updating grassland fertiliser recommendations: principles and practice

Author's copy of the final published version. Made available by permission of the publisher.Providing fertiliser recommendations for grassland is challenging due to the variety and complexity of livestock production systems ranging from extended grazing to fully housed 'zero grazing' systems. Many farms use multiple grazings and cuttings and there is a wide range of field conditions and grass growth potential. Nutrients recycled at grazing and nitrogen (N) fixed by clover add another layer of complexity and the quantity of grass production is dependent on livestock stocking rates and concentrate use, and can be considerably lower than growth potential. New grassland recommendation systems need to take account of and maximise the impact of recent research findings while also remaining relevant to modern livestock production systems. The challenge is to synthesise research into recommendations that are provided at an appropriate level of precision and area also easy to understand, accessible and recognisable so that farmers can relate them to their own systems. Only then will uptake and use of recommendation increase to further contribute towards improved nutrient use efficiency in grassland production

European agriculture since World War II : technical change in south-west England, 1940-1985

The food shortages that beset individual European countries in 1945 had been transformed into surpluses that a common European agricultural policy struggled in vain to control by the 1980s. In the same period, the v olume of agricultural output in the United Kingdom rose by 255 per cent, with the pace of change reaching its peak of 2.8 per cent per annum in the years from 1945 to 1965 (Brassley, 2000ESR

"The good guys are doing it anyway": the accommodation of environmental concern among English and Welsh farmers

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this record.Farmers today are increasingly facing pressure from policy and market forces to improve their environmental performance. Yet – despite widespread recognition of the negative externalities of agriculture on a national and global scale - many farmers would argue that, as ‘custodians of the countryside’ they have always respected and cared for the local environment, and play a central role in creating and maintaining the countryside as we know it today. In this paper, we use evidence emerging from research with farmers across England and Wales to explore farmer accounts of environmental concern and action in the context of both traditional farming values and contemporary imperatives. We draw particularly on scholarly work around constructs of ‘good farming’ to consider the extent to which environmental concern has been accommodated within a wide range of farming contexts across England and Wales. Our findings highlight an intrinsic sense of care towards the environment among farmers and reveal how environmental management has in many ways become an integral part of farming discourse; recognised as synergistic with personal and business goals concerning i) personal respect for the environment and conservation; ii) countryside custodianship; iii) farm legacy and succession; iv) ‘good’ agricultural practice and compliance with regulation; and/or v) financial profitability. We discuss some of the issues arising from our findings and offer our thoughts on implications for efforts to encourage farmers to carry out environmentally beneficial activities. Whilst expressions of environmental concern do not necessarily equate to effective action on the ground, recognising that many farmers believe environmental management to be part of good farming practice provides a more positive foundation for engaging with them on this topic than assuming they need to be cajoled into action.The research on which this paper is based was funded as part of Defra’s Sustainable Intensification Research Platform (Project LM0302)

Making land available for woodland creation

In order to support the Forestry Commission in achieving woodland planting targets, the overall aim of this research was to better understand the availability of land in England for afforestation, reflecting the interests and motivation of land owners and occupiers. In particular the research has attempted to identify where (either in a geographical sense and/or in terms of owner 'type') the Forestry Commission might focus its efforts in terms of accessing land for woodland creation

Anxiety and associated stressors among farm women in England and Wales

This is the final version. Available on open access from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this recordObjectives: The findings presented here derive from a wider study that sought to establish a baseline understanding of mental health and wellbeing among the agricultural community in England and Wales. This paper focuses on selected questions that investigated levels of anxiety and associated stress factors among farm women, a group which has been relatively neglected within previous research on farming mental health. Methods: A questionnaire survey was widely distributed to members of the agricultural community in England and Wales (n=15,296) in both paper and online formats. The survey included a number of standardised instruments to assess mental health and wellbeing, including the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7). Focusing on a sub-sample of female respondents (n=3487), this paper details the findings from the GAD-7, alongside those from a selection of other questions investigating sources of stress, loneliness and perceived business viability. Results: A significant proportion of female respondents were experiencing anxiety at the time of survey completion, with 23.3% reaching the threshold for clinically relevant anxiety based on their GAD-7 scores (medium or severe anxiety, scores ≥ 10). A further 34.6% were classified as experiencing mild anxiety (scores 5-9) whilst 42.1% were not suffering from anxiety (scores 0-4). Medium/severe anxiety was identified as being associated with a number of stress factors, feelings of loneliness and pessimistic perceptions of farm business viability. There were important age-based differences, with working-aged women identified as more likely to suffer from anxiety, loneliness and certain stressors than older women. Conclusion: The findings reported here indicate concerning levels of anxiety among farming women and this should be seen as a call to action. There are clear associations between anxiety and a range of stressors and, although we cannot ascertain causality, these point to issues that demand attention in efforts to improve mental health within this social group. The factors contributing to anxiety are, however, multiple and complex and farm women may be affected by particular gender-based challenges that have not yet been explicitly explored in relation to mental health. Further research is needed to investigate and understand these issues in greater depth.Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI

Managing extreme weather and climate change in UK agriculture: Impacts, attitudes and action among farmers and stakeholders

This is the final version. Available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.Data access statement: Due to ethical concerns, the research data supporting this publication are not publicly available.Although the need for agriculture to adapt to climate change is well established, there is relatively little research within a UK context that explores how the risks associated with climate change are perceived at the farm level, nor how farmers are adapting their businesses to improve resilience in the context of climate change. Based on 31 in-depth, qualitative interviews (15 with farmers and 16 with stakeholders including advisors, consultants and industry representatives) this paper begins to address this gap by exploring experiences, attitudes and responses to extreme weather and climate change. The results point to a mixed picture of resilience to climate risks. All interviewees had experienced or witnessed negative impacts from extreme weather events in recent years but concern was expressed that too few farm businesses are taking sufficient action to increase their business resilience to extreme weather and climate change. Many farmers interviewed for this research did not perceive adaptation to be a priority and viewed the risks as either too uncertain and/or too long-term to warrant any significant investment of time or money at present when many are preoccupied with short-term profitability and business survival. We identified a range of issues and barriers that are constraining improved resilience across the industry, including some lack of awareness about the type and cost-effectiveness of potential adaptation options. Nevertheless, we also found evidence of positive actions being taken by many, whether in direct response to climate change/extreme weather or as a result of other drivers such as soil health, policy and legislation, cost reduction, productivity and changing consumer demands. Our findings reveal a number of actions that can help enable adaption at the farm level including improved industry collaboration, farmer-to-farmer learning, and the need for tools and support that take into account the specificities of different farming systems and that can be easily tailored or interpreted to help farmers understand what climate change means for their particular farm and, crucially, what they can do to increase their resilience to both extreme weather and longer term climate risks.UK Research and InnovationMet Offic

Oat-enriched diet reduces inflammatory status assessed by circulating cell-derived microparticle concentrations in type 2 diabetes

This work was funded by the Chief Scientists Office of the Scottish Government by a joint grant to the University of the Highland and Islands, Grampian Health Board, Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland and the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Aberdeen. Additional support was provided by Provexis plc.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

e-Learning for 4-H Volunteers: Who Uses It, and What Can We Learn from Them?

Orienting and training 4-H volunteers are critical to individuals and the organization. The two-part study reported here re-establishes the profile of the 4-H volunteer and evaluates both the format and content of e-Learning for 4-H Volunteers modules launched in 2006. Volunteers from seven states perceived that online modules made learning more convenient and flexible. Volunteers with 2 years of experience or less (84.2%) liked e-Learning modules regardless of their age. Although the profile of the 4-H volunteer has remained similar over the course of six decades, technology has successfully provided new options for reaching and preparing 4-H volunteers