The document summarizes challenges facing agriculture in the Galloway & Southern Ayrshire Biosphere Reserve. It discusses rising costs decreasing farm margins and the need to balance production with environmental goals like water quality and biodiversity. It also notes the retreat from upland and island farming due to changes in high nature value systems. Finally, it addresses uncertainty around maintaining agricultural support from the EU Common Agricultural Policy post-2013 and how changes could impact farming viability across the Reserve.

1. Rural Policy Centre
Challenges for
agriculture
Davy McCracken
Presentation to attendees at workshop concerned with
Challenges and opportunities for the Galloway
& Southern Ayrshire Biosphere Reserve
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New Cumnock Community Centre, 30 June 2011

2. Challenges for agriculture:
Ensuring sustainable production
• Rising fuel, fertiliser and
livestock feed costs
decreasing margins
• Increasing focus on
delivering other public goods
(e.g. water quality,
biodiversity)
• Coping with impacts of
climate change

3. Challenges for agriculture:
Halting the retreat from the hills
Uplands and islands – changes and loss of High Nature
Value farming systems
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4. Challenges for agriculture:
Maintaining support post-2013
Negative business incomes were it not for
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) support
payments
The EU are seeking to markedly change the
CAP budget and payment rates post-2013
Current uncertainty makes it difficult for
farmers to plan their businesses
The changes implemented will impact on the
viability of farming systems within all parts of
the Reserve
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5. Davy McCracken
davy.mccracken@sac.ac.uk
www.sac.ac.uk/ruralpolicycentre
A briefing on Estimating the scale of future environmental
land management requirements can be found at:
http://www.sac.ac.uk/ruralpolicycentre/publs/changinenvironment/landmanagementrequirements/ 5