page_title: Hill farming
section_title: Hill farming and uplands ecosystems
hierarchical_section_title: Hill farming / Hill farming and uplands ecosystems
caption_attribution_description: English: Grey Faced Dartmoor sheep, Fillongley Show 2009
context_page_description: Hill farming is 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.
  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 receives 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 0.25 hectares.
context_section_description: 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 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 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 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 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.
caption: A Grey Faced Dartmoor sheep
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