Welsh Commons Forum: Graziers must have say on policy

Their deep-seated concerns surround the planned new all-embracing Glastir land management scheme in Wales due from 2012 and the Upland Entry Level Scheme which will replace Hill Farm Allowances in England from 2011.

Comment after comment from the full house gathering was sparked by a commonsense presentation from livestock farmer Neville Powell, chairman of the Black Mountains Graziers Association, which straddles Offa’s Dyke, with land in both England and Wales and spread across three counties.

“It provides an excellent opportunity for bureaucracy to thrive and be interpreted with the emphasis in different places,” he said.

“We are being asked to go into new schemes without fundamental basic issues being sorted out, and what worries me most, is the serious potential of this ineffective and lackadaisical approach setting grazier against grazier, neighbour against neighbour.

“I am worried, too, about the general views of the environmentalists, that the best way to protect the habitat on these hills, is to reduce numbers and remove livestock in the winter.

“They seem to ignore the environmental and economical importance of grazing livestock on common land and only want heather and species-rich grassland.

“Our hills traditionally supported a much larger number of sheep with upland farming, and what is now called conservation, having always gone hand in hand.

“You grow up to respect the hill, knowing the sheep runs and knowing where they are likely to shelter in bad weather. That knowledge is not taught, it is assimilated by experience.

“We have mixed messages coming from Government – conservation on the hill means removing livestock, but on the other hand, with an increasing population there is the need to increase food production.

“Politicians should listen very carefully to what they are being told by commoners. It is very easy for them to take heed of their advisers while we commoners do not generally have the skills either of oratory or the written word.

“But we do have a great deal of in-depth knowledge of what is best for our own particular area, and not only do we know our stock and the detail of our own heft, but we probably know as much if not more than any of the highly qualified environmentalists and conservationists.”

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