The Hill Sheep Sector is Shrinking as it Must
Earth and Leaf Editorial - The Hill Sheep Sector is Shrinking as it Must
The hill sheep sector is shrinking as it must. With the advent of genomics the UK stratified sheep farming system has outlived its usefulness. Brexit ended headage payments for ewes which kept the sector alive. Upland farms need just transition to a new future feeding their communities whilst rehabilitating their environment.
Farms in the pennines are up for sale in numbers as they cannot make money without radical change.
The Hill Sheep Sector is Shrinking
Traditional stratified sheep breeding has lost more market share as lowland farmers close flocks and try cross-bred and composite breeds.
Latest estimates suggest Scottish Blackface numbers have reduced by 36% since 2012, with Welsh Mountain, Beulah, Welsh Hill Specked Face and Swaledale all back 15-19%.
However, the Cheviot breed showed a trend-bucking growth of 4%.
This is according to the 2020 Sheep Breed Survey, which underlined an increase in Aberfields (and other Innovis sires), wool-shedding breeds (Easycare and Exlana) and Lleyns.
See also: Hill farms slow to market but snapped up by investors
Industry figures said the data reveals the effect tree planting and agri-environment schemes have had on upland sheep numbers.
Geoff Pollott …
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