Hill farming or terrace farming is an extensive farming in upland areas, primarily rearing sheep , although historically cattle were often reared extensively in upland areas . Fell farming is the farming of fells , a fell being an area of uncultivated high ground used as common grazing . It is a term commonly used in Northern England , especially in the Lake District and the Pennine Dales . Elsewhere, the terms hill farming or pastoral farming are more commonly used.
40-679: Ruthwell is a village and parish on the Solway Firth between Dumfries and Annan in Dumfries and Galloway , Scotland. In 2022 the combined population of Ruthwell and nearby Clarencefield was 400. Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray , gave Ruthwell to his nephew, Sir William Murray, confirmed to Sir John Murray , of Cockpool, in 1509 by King James VI . He was later given the title Earl of Annandale : their landownings in Ruthwell passed by inheritance to Lord Stormont in 1658, and after 1792 to
80-546: A 75% decrease in income over the past decade. Hill farmer income is subject to large fluctuation above the influence of the farmers. The harsh terrain and climate of hill farms are hard on the animals, causing them to be relatively very unproductive. Because of this, hill farming can have economic strains on the farmers who generally have low income. Wet weather, as often experienced in the uplands, create additional animal feed costs for farmers. Many hill farmers earn around £12,600, with some earning as little as £8,000. This
120-502: A popular footpath, enabling residents of Scotland to easily cross into England, where alcoholic drink was legally available seven days a week. (Scotland was dry on Sundays at the time.) The viaduct was demolished between 1931 and 1933. The Ministry of Defence had by 1999 fired more than 6,350 depleted uranium rounds into the Solway Firth from its testing range at Dundrennan Range . Slipknot 2019 song. "Solway Firth" from
160-696: Is a type of agricultural practice in the UK in upland regions. In England , hill farms are located mainly in the North and South-Western regions, as well as a few areas bordering Wales . The Scottish highlands are another home for many hill farms. Sheep farms and mixed sheep and cattle farms constitute approximately 55% of the agricultural land in Scotland . These areas have a harsh climate, short growing seasons, relatively poor quality of soil and long winters. Therefore, these areas are considered to be disadvantaged and
200-524: Is also very near to the firth. The firth comprises part of the Irish Sea . The firth's coastline is characterised by lowland hills and small mountains. It is a mainly rural area, with mostly small villages and settlements (such as Powfoot ). Fishing, hill farming , and some arable farming play a large part in the local economy, although tourism is increasing. The northern part of the English coast of
240-576: Is an inlet on the west coast of Great Britain , forming part of the border between England and Scotland . The " firth " (a Scottish term for inlets of the sea) divides Cumbria (including the Solway Plain ) from Dumfries and Galloway . It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in Cumbria, to the Mull of Galloway , on the western end of Dumfries and Galloway . The Isle of Man
280-614: Is becoming increasingly less profitable an increasing number of farmers have switched from the traditional hearty but less profitable animals which graze the moors to mainstream more profitable animals. Opportunities for farmers to supplement their farm income by working in industries such as quarrying or mining are largely no longer available. The financial burden has taken a toll on many hill farmers, causing them to exhibit signs of mental health issues. Many hill farmers are forced to generate supplemental income outside their farms or to take out loans. Because of these economic factors, there
320-454: Is highly important in hill farming in order to protect the delicate relationship that farm manage has on the biodiversity of native plant and animal species. Upland ecosystems have seen a shift in the last century, associated with widespread habitat deterioration caused by human actions and exploitation. The decline in grazing animals accompanied with the milder winters experienced in recent years has caused an overgrowth in vegetation, putting
360-832: Is much below the annual £19,820 a single working adult requires to live in a village in England. In 2008, a farmer would receive a profit of £1 for a single moorland lamb. The average LFA farm in England only earns about 66% of their total revenue from farming. 22% of this revenue comes from the Single Farm Payment, and 10% from specific agri-environment payments. The 2% balance originated from non-farm activities, which are usually associated with contracting or tourism and recreation. Hill farmers in Peak District National Park (PDNP) constitute one of UK's most deprived farming communities, with farms in
400-871: Is on the site of the Ruthwell Savings Bank. In 1818, Duncan restored the Ruthwell Cross , one of the finest Anglo-Saxon crosses in the United Kingdom, now in Ruthwell church, which had been broken up in the Scottish Reformation . This cross is remarkable for its sculpture and inscriptions in Latin and Old English , some in Anglo-Saxon runes , which include excerpts from The Dream of the Rood , an Old English poem . After
440-451: Is situated 3 km west of the village of Ruthwell. This well, stained reddish by the high levels of iron salts in the water, is the place where Scottish poet Robert Burns hoped to cure his final illness by drinking the iron-rich water. The village was once served by Ruthwell railway station . This Dumfries and Galloway location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Solway Firth The Solway Firth
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#1732776023923480-571: Is the case, the first element may be * sulr , an unrecorded word cognate with Old English sol 'muddy, pool', or a derivative of sulla , meaning 'to swill'. The second element of the name is from the Old Norse vað , meaning 'ford' (which is cognate with the modern English word wade ). The area had three fords: the Annan or Bowness Wath, the Dornock Wath (once called
520-627: The Disruption of 1843 in the Church of Scotland , Dr. Duncan became one of the founding ministers of the Free Church of Scotland . During his youth, Robert Murray M'Cheyne spent summer holidays at Clarence Cottage in the hamlet of Clarencefield near Ruthwell, the home of his maternal aunt. During these visits he would often call to see "Uncle" Henry Duncan at the manse. M'Cheyne's parents were born in this part of Scotland. The Brow Well
560-585: The Earls of Mansfield . Ruthwell's most famous inhabitant was the Rev. Henry Duncan . He was a minister , author, antiquarian , geologist, publisher, philanthropist, artist and businessman. In 1810 Dr Duncan opened the world's first commercial savings bank , Ruthwell Savings Bank , paying interest on its investors' modest savings. The Savings Bank Museum tells the story of early home savings in Britain . The museum
600-745: The honeycomb worm and blue mussel were designated as targets of conservation efforts, and Allonby Bay (an inlet of the Solway Firth) was put forward as a candidate for a Marine Conservation Zone . A 53-mile (85 km) long-distance walking route, the Annandale Way , runs through Annandale, from the source of the River Annan , in the Moffat Hills , to the Solway Firth; it was opened in September 2009. Unlike other parts of
640-682: The Album "We Are Not Your Kind" Hill farming Cattle farming in the hills is usually restricted by a scarcity of winter fodder , and hill sheep, grazing at about two hectares per head, are often taken to lowland areas for fattening. Modern hill farming is often heavily dependent on state subsidy , for example in the United Kingdom it received support from the European Union 's Common Agricultural Policy . Improved, sown pasture and drained moorland can be stocked more heavily, at approximately one sheep per 0.26 hectares. Hill farming
680-1387: The DAs are more profitable than the SDAs, active since 2008 DAs became ineligible for funding from the Hill Farming Allowance (HFA). In addition to the Upland ELS, hill farmers in England's SDAs are supported by the Single Payment Scheme (SPS), which is the primary agricultural subsidy scheme under the EU. Subsidies from the SPS are not dependent on production, granting greater freedom to farmers to meet market demands. The SPS also claims to specifically support hill farmers who follow environmentally friendly farming practices. In order to receive these subsidies, hill farmers must meet cross compliance rules and regulations, which mainly involves avoidance of overgrazing and unsuitable supplementary feeding on natural and semi-natural vegetation under GAEC (standard of good agricultural and environmental condition). These standards were implemented to protect significant habitats and to limit soil erosion and other negative effects of soil structure in
720-465: The LFA making an average loss of £16,000 per farm, generating an average headline Farm Business Income of £10,800 (supplemented by various government subsidies), creating a net income average per farm of about £6000. The hill farming sector in southwest England, like farming in the rest of the country, has experienced a decade of much change associated with economic pressures and uncertainties. On average,
760-420: The LFA respectively. These areas are classified as such on account of poor climate, soils, and terrain which cause higher costs in production and transportation as well as lower yields and less productivity. The LFA is significant in England's farming on a whole despite these disadvantages: 30% of beef cows and 44% of breeding sheep come from LFAs. Farming distinctively shapes the ecosystems of these zones, and
800-794: The SFP, and the SFP is guaranteed until 2013. Other subsidy schemes from the British government are available to hill farmers, particularly the Uplands Entry Level Stewardship (Uplands ELS) and agri-environment schemes. The Uplands ELS replaced the prior Hill Farm Allowance in 2010. Before the HFA, hill farms we subsidized by the Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowances which were active as headage support to eligible beef cows and ewes. Because
840-592: The Sandywathe), and the main one —the Solewath (also called the Solewath or the Sulewad). A wooden lighthouse was built in 1841 at Barnkirk Point ( grid reference NY 1903 6425 ). It was destroyed by fire in 1960. On 9 March 1876, a 79-ton French lugger St. Pierre , was stranded - and finally declared lost - on Blackshaw Bank, an ill-defined feature which extends for a considerable distance on both sides of
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#1732776023923880-572: The Solway Firth was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty , known as the Solway Coast , in 1964. Construction of the Robin Rigg Wind Farm in the firth began in 2007. Within the firth, there are some salt flats and mud flats that can be dangerous, due to their frequently shifting patches of quicksand . There are over 290 square kilometres (110 sq mi) of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in
920-491: The UK uplands, hill farming has shaped the English uplands both environmentally and culturally. The UK government has designated different areas in the upland as specifically valuable by certain terms of the environment, biodiversity, archaeology , cultural heritage and landscape, and seeks to protect these regions for such reasons. According to the UK government, these designated areas and their qualifications as such are: Over
960-524: The accumulation of surpluses, the CAP was reformed. The two most recent reforms to the CAP were Agenda 2000 in 1999 and the Mid Term Review of June 2003 and April 2004. These changes are phasing out support and protections linked to production, and are providing more support on environmental and rural developments. The Single Farm Payment replaced the older headage payments (CAP) in 2005. Analyses of
1000-578: The agriculture practices in the uplands define and shape the environment and landscape. Upland areas are usually covered with both dry and wet dwarf shrub heath and, rough and either managed or unmanaged improved grasslands . The typical hill farm is made up of three distinct zones: the High fell, the Alotment, and the Inbye. The High fell includes peat moors and rocky areas which provide poor grazing at
1040-542: The animals indoors, supplementing the livestock's diet with hay or silage. The land used to grow winter feed that are not mowed are able to provide protection for a variety of birds including skylarks , partridge , and corncrakes who build on their nests on the ground. Agricultural use, burning, and grazing by both livestock and wild life such as deer, helps to sustain the upland grasslands, moorland and bogs. If these ecosystems were not maintained they would be colonized by trees and scrub. Sustainable careful maintenance
1080-477: The animals raised there are generally less productive and farmers will often send them down to the lowlands to be fattened up. Upland areas are not traditionally favourable for agricultural practices. The majority of Hill farming land in England is classified as Less Favoured Area (LFA), and the LFA constitutes 17% of land farmed in England. The LFA is further divided into Severely Disadvantaged Areas (SDAs) and Disadvantaged Areas (DAs), which make up 67% and 33% of
1120-591: The area of the firth (one of which is Salta Moss ), as well as national nature reserves — at Caerlaverock and in Cumbria . On the Cumbrian side, much of the coastline has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The Solway Coast ’s AONB has two separate sections: the first runs westward from just north of Carlisle to Skinburness ; the second runs south from the hamlet of Beckfoot , past Mawbray and Allonby , to Crosscanonby . In 2013,
1160-680: The channel of the River Nith. Between 1869 and 1921, the estuary was crossed by the Solway Junction Railway on a 1780 m (5850 ft) iron viaduct . The line was built to carry iron ore from the Whitehaven area to Lanarkshire and was financed and operated by the Caledonian Railway of Scotland. After the railway, which was not a financial success, ceased operating in 1921, the railway bridge became
1200-452: The ecosystem, as well as various archaeological sites at risk. The Dartmoor Vision initiative is trying to return Dartmoor to its former predominantly cattle, sheep, and pony grazed landscape. Hill farm incomes in the UK have recently seen great decrease following drops in lamb and beef prices. Therefore, subsidy support has become vital for Hill farm survival, and the policies have been changing in response to continuous uncertainty in
1240-585: The effects of economic incentives provided to hill farmers by decoupling and the introduction of the Single Farm Payment show that although these policies cause little change in average farm incomes they do encourage change in the way hill farms run. Specifically the policies promote the reduction of stocking densities, reduction of employment of additional farm labour, movement away from reliance on beef cattle, increased specialization, and to keep farming land in “good agricultural condition” rather than farm abandonment. The EU plans to phase out and progressively reduce
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1280-496: The feed given to their animals, leading to a decrease in meat production and therefore lower profit. By 2012 the Single Payment Scheme (or SPS), will only take into consideration the area of the farm. This will decrease the income in moorland farmers to only 70% of what it was 20 years ago. The income from calves and lambs has remained constant, while the costs of farm upkeep have risen sharply (including items such as feed, straw, fuel, or fertilizer ). Because hill farming
1320-648: The financial position of hill farms in South West England, like the rest of the country, is precarious. The average southwest English hill farm system in unable to match labour and capital invest in the business. Many farmers rely on a Single Farm Payment as a source of income. These payments are expected to arrive in November or December, but sometimes farmers do not receive the money until June. Due to this farmers are often unable to pay their bills or fix their machinery. Some farmers have to cut back on
1360-630: The name is probably from the Old Norse word súl 'pillar', referring to the Lochmaben Stane , though it may instead be from súla , meaning ' solan goose '. Súl and súla both have long vowels, but the early spellings of Solway indicate a short vowel in the first element. This may be due to the shortening of an originally long vowel in the Middle English period but may also represent an original short vowel. If this
1400-434: The past century, Hill farming and the upland environment have undergone a number of changes. Since 1900 there has been: A large number of upland ecosystems have been shaped by humans for centuries, particularly by farming and agriculture . Because of this, many upland ecosystems have become dependent on hill farm land management. Hill farming practices play a significant role in supporting surrounding flora and fauna in
1440-446: The sector. Hill farming has been supported by both the British government and EU policies, one of the most influential EU scheme being The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The CAP provided production-based direct (headage) which gave incentive to stock beef cattle and sheep at high densities. This led to, in some circumstances, overgrazing which damages natural and semi-natural vegetation. Because of overgrazing and issues with
1480-420: The top. The Alotment follows below, an enclosed area with rough grazing. The Inbye is the lowest area at the bottom, which is used as the regular grazing area as well as for growing hay. Dartmoor National Park has over 10,000ha of prehistoric field systems, dating back to 1500BC. Archaeological evidence shows that these moors have been grazed for 3500 years. Because of the extent of historical farming in
1520-602: The uplands. Certain upland farmers and communities also have access to funding from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) team at Defra . The reduction of farming subsidies that have taken place over the past few decades has created an uncertain future for farming in many parts of Europe . Without government subsidies, many hill farms would have a negative income. The high cost of land and machinery keeps many hill farmers from expanding. Hill farmers in some parts of England have reported
1560-613: The uplands. Through grazing, sheep and cattle maintain a variety of tall grasses and short vegetation. This in turn supports local wildlife, as the short vegetation provides breeding and nesting grounds for many species of waders, including the lapwing, redshank, and golden plover. The taller grasses are an important part of the Curlew habitat, which is another species of wader. Cattle dung provides nutrition for many species of insects and carrion provides food for various species of scavenging birds. During winter farmers will usually keep
1600-518: The west coast of Scotland, the Solway Firth has only a few islands. They are: The Solway Firth is the estuary of the River Eden and the River Esk . Below are links to lists of the other rivers that flow into the firth: The name 'Solway' (recorded as Sulewad in 1218) is of Scandinavian origin, and was originally the name of a ford across the mud flats at Eskmouth . The first element of
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