Relationships between energy intake and productivity in hill sheep.

Nutrition of hill cattle and sheep '97 the hill sheep industry the transfer of hill land to other uses or the restriction of sheep farming is frequently advocated. Rarely does this take into account the opportunities for improvement which exist at the biological level or whether modifications to or changes in systems could make sheep production economically viable. Subsequent papers will present some facts on which it becomes possible to make objective assessments. Exclusively cattle-based systems have been developed on upland farms and relatively intensive stocking is possible. Cunningham & Harkins (1967) and Powell (1971) have reported stocking rates of 0.5 ha/cow per annum on upland permanent pastures. The provision of winter feed is an important aspect of cattle management and this amounts to approximately 40% of the cost of production of the calf. Nutrition is of importance not only in relation to performance but it is also of significance in relation to the food resources available and the systems which can be economically developed. The entire field requires urgent investigation. Calves from cows run on rough grazings are generally small, market demand and consequently price is poor, and frequently growth-rate potential is inadequate. Generally, the pastoral resources of the hills and uplands are making an important economic contribution to agricultural output. However, it is frequently argued that the problems are essentially sociological. Given an improvement in the economic viability of hill farming it is possible that many of the so-called sociological arguments might disappear. Nevertheless there are some aspects of sociological significance the issues of public access and amenity. Agriculture is an important concomitant of amenity and I do not believe that the development of new systems of animal production in the uplands will in any way militate against properly organized and controlled public access to hill land.