Sheep Farming Reform is Long Overdue
Sheep farming reform in Britain is overdue. We have unique system that produces about eight million lambs for slaughter each year. This system involves 18 million ewes when just 8 million should be enough. Why?
Tradition. We have what is known as a stratified sheep farming system. This is rooted in traditions of upland and moorland management. Progress in the new science of Genomics means we no longer need that system which would free millions of hectares of farmed land for other uses.
Sheep meat consumption is falling fast so we no longer need those eight million lambs. This is the ideal time for sheep farming reform in Britain. As our relationship with the EU develops exports are going to fall significantly. Some sixty percent of our lamb is exported. If we were to cease exports of lamb then we would only need about eight million ewes and that number will continue to fall in the next two decades.
Grouse shooting needs to end. Our uplands are burnt annually, drained and overgrazed by sheep purely to boost the population of native Grouse. This leads to flooding and disrupted river flow downstream and increases the difficulties caused by drought and flooding. Grouse shooting has other unpleasant side effects too – see what Raptor Persecution UK have to say about it.
Hill sheep are crossed to produce crossbred “mule” ewes which are sold or transferred to farms on lower ground to be crossed with a terminal sire. This is where the majority of lambs for meat are produced, male and female.
So we have a whole generation of hill sheep that are kept solely to produce reproductive sheep for lamb production. They generally have one lamb per ewe. The crossbred mules should average two lambs each. You don’t want more than two because a ewe has only two teats. With modern genomics this is a waste of time, land, labour and makes sheep farming very extensive. However with reform of the British sheep industry we MUST put in place just transition for the affected farmers and communities.
I have in the past been challenged with the argument that we have to use this sheep farming system because there is no other use for the uplands except sheep and beef farming along with Grouse shooting. They might add forestry. This is of course not the case.
The uplands are or should be a giant sponge absorbing rainfall and releasing it gently across the year feeding springs, rivers, reservoirs and regulating water flow that prevents flooding.
Historically this used the moors and hills for farming. Millions of hectares of land have been drained or gripped which increases water run off rates. This speeds up water flows from the hill to the sea. Along with dredging, straightening water courses and of course drainage systems lower down the hill destroy our rivers as habitat.
So how do we reform sheep farming?
We need to halve our lamb production and use genomics to make that lamb production efficient. This removes the need for “at scale” hill farming. If we take out some of the beef herds as well that gives us millions of hectares for conservation and recreation, adding the benefit of flood mitigation. This will enable us to increase the UK forest cover from 10% to 25%.
I propose we start sheep farming reform in our National Parks.
I conclude – there are many varied benefits to sheep farming reform in Britain.
