Trust warns hill farming faces collapse (From The Westmorland Gazette)
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Trust warns hill farming faces collapse
9:23am Friday 8th July 2005 in News By Jennie Dennett
THE sheep-filled fells of England's uplands beloved by generations of poets and tourists alike are at risk as hill farming faces "rapid and unmanaged collapse", according to a report out this week.
A study of 60 National Trust tenant farms in the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, Peak District and Northumberland found that some would be in the red by next year and most would be making a loss by 2012.
The research covered 370,000 acres and included 20 Lake District farms. For many of the region's upland farms, the study anticipated losses of more than £10,000 a year by 2012.
National Trust North West area manager John Darlington said the problem was not confined to Trust farms and challenged upland livestock farms everywhere.
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