Countryside Maintenance and Management Activities 2010-11

Defra's latest statistics on Countryside Maintenenace and Management Activities (CMMA) final estimates, released 28 June 2012, show that over 52,193 farms of the 56,294 farms in the Farm Business Survey (FBS) population carried out some kind of countryside maintenance and management activities in 2010-11. The number includes 99% of LFA grazing livestock and 98% of cereal farms. The lowest rate was for Pig farms at 58%. Rates of participation according to farm size were 95% for small farms, 94% for medium-sized farms and a lower rate of 88% for large farms.

Costs involved for farms with CMMA ranged from £2,327 for General Cropping farms to £392 for Pig farms with an average of £1,675 per farm for participating farms. The average cost per hectare was £11.75. Costs for CMMA as a proportion of total farm costs were much higher for Lowland and LFA grazing livestock farms, 2.2% and 2% respectively, with an average of 1% or less for other farms.

The most common CMMA overall was Boundary features such as hedges and wall maintenance with 82% of all participating farms doing such work including 96% of LFA grazing livestock farms. Other CMMAs include trees and woodland, historic and landscape features, buffer strips, arable land, range of crop types, soil and water protection, grassland and other activities not included in Entry Level Stewardship (ELS).

Some of the CMMAs contribute to the Campaign for the Farmed Environment targets. These include some Buffer strip activities, field corner management, overwintered stubble, uncropped land, beetle barks, skylark plots, wild bird seed mixture or pollen and nectar mixture, conservation headlands and reverted arable area (higher level stewardship (HLS)) from the Arable land ELS scheme option group.

Defra Biodiversity Survey

The results of a recent survey on knowledge and attitudes towards the environment by Defra show that 92% of respondents said that it is important to hace green spaces nearby and 56% said they use them at least once a week.

The survey also showed that 48% of respondents had some knowledge of biodiversity, up from 44% in 2009. When prompted, 78% agreed that they worry about the loss of native animals and plants and about changes in the countryside. Volunteering had been carried out by 13% in the previous 12 months.

Countryside Maintenenace And Management From Farm Business Survey

Defra has released statistics on countryside maintenance and management activities on farms in England sourced from the Farm Business Survey 2008-9 covering the 2008 harvest. The survey showed that almost 90% of over 57,000 farms carried out some kind of countryside maintenance and management activities. The figure included 98% of cereal farms. Total costs for countryside maintenance and management activities came to £72m in 2008-9 that is 3% of total farm business income for that year. A total of 8,614 farms took professional advice.

The farms most likely to carry out management activities are the high-performing general cropping farms. The farms least likely to carry out countryside management on their farms are low performing mixed farms. Over half (51%) of medium performing farms carried out countryside maintenance and management activities. The cereal farms spent the most at £25.3m. Mixed farms were next on spend. The lowest spend was on specialist pig and specialist poultry farms at £0.1m and £0.3m respectively.

Associated costs were recorded on 70% of farms carrying out countryside maintenance and management activities. The most popular activity carried out on these farms was the management of boundary features which involved over 42,000 farms. Activities on boundary features such as hedges, stone walls and ditches cost a total of £45.1m, equivalent to 62% of the total countryside maintenance and management spend. Farms with historic and landscape features came next with £15m equivalent to 21% of total spend on 41% of the farms. Arable land activities accounted for £3.7m on the 28% of farms with that activity that recorded a cost.

There were 42,135 farms on which boundary features activites were carried out. Lowland grassland (24,049) came next with the restoration of moorland, pasture with low inputs, enclosed rough grazing and moorland and rough grazing. Countryside maintenance and management on the 22,528 farms with arable land activities involved field corner management, overwinter stubble, uncropped land, wild bird seed mixtures, beetle banks, skylark plots and headland conservation. Historic and landscape features (18,539) included archaeological features and traditional farm buildings, activities involving trees and woodland (16,839) included the protection of infield trees, broadleaved and mixed woodland and old orchards and buffer strips (16,347).

The available data from the 35,975 farms that recorded a cost shows that mixed farms spent the most with £2,935 on average per farm followed by general cropping and the lowest spend was on specialist pig farms with £575. On a per hectare basis the spend was highest on specialist poultry farms with £92 per hectare per farm and the lowest were the general cropping farms at £11 per hectare. The highest costs are recorded by the very large farm businesses on £18.9m but small farms follow closely on £18.4m. The highest average spend per farm was on boundary activities at £1,071, £809 for activities relating to historic and landscape features and the lowest was £24 for LFA grassland activities.

The individual countryside maintenance and management activities can be compared and show that the average costs per farm were highest for historic and landscape feature activities at £2,012 per farm and lowest for ditches at £837.

CLA Response To Uplands Report

The uplands report 'High Ground High Potential' by the CRC requires more depth according to the CLA. The survival of the uplands economy will require more specific policy and ground work if it is to be ensured. The CLA also question the necessity of a national strategy for the uplands and the appointment of a lead individual.

More Green Belt Statistics UK

The latest Green belt statistics from the DCLG tell us that on 31 March 2010 there was an estimated 1,639,560 hectares of designated Green Belt land in England. This amounts to about 13% of the total land area of England. The designated Green Belt area of England in March 2009 has been revised and the estimation is now 1,639,650 hectares which amounts to an increase of 810 hectares on the estimate published by DCLG in April 2009. The difference is due to the correcting, improving of measurements of local authorities using digitised data from geographical information systems as opposed to paper maps and Positional Accuracy improvements by the Ordnance Survey. The Comprehensive Spending Review resulted in Departmental Strategic Objectives on Planning which relate to net change in the national area of Green Belt land. The indicator used for this is sustaining the level of Green Belt nationally measured regionally. There has been a net real decreas decrease of 80 hectares between April 2009 and March 2010. The difference is due to new plans being adopted in South Cambridgeshire (70 hectares) and the Mole Valley (10 hectares).

Green Belt policy comprises five purposes for including land in designated Green Belt areas. They are to check urban sprawl, to prevent the merging of neighbouring towns, the safeguard the countryside from encroachment, the preservation of the setting and character of historic towns and to help urban regeneration by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land. Green Belt land once identified can then provide the urban population with opportunities of access to the open countryside and outdoor sport and leisure, the retention and enhancement of landscapes near inhabited areas, improvement of damaged and derelict land, nature conservation and the retaining of land in agricultural, forestry and other related uses.