Non Williams

A large proportion of the United Kingdom’s agricultural land is classified as uplands. The majority of this land is used for livestock production but pasture productivity is often low. This, together with market forces, means that cattle numbers in the uplands are declining. A continuation of this trend could compromise beef production and lead to other undesirable impacts such as the spread of invasive species. However, improving pasture productivity and grass utilisation could provide numerous benefits such as increasing the length of the grazing season, thereby reducing supplementary feed requirements and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. While many studies have evaluated the effectiveness of pasture improvement methods on increasing pasture productivity, few have focused on the economic and environmental outcomes in relation to the uplands.

Field trials were set up on a typical upland system on Bangor University’s farm, Henfaes Research Centre in north Wales, in order to investigate a) the economic and environmental cost-benefits of increasing pasture productivity in the uplands, and b) cattle performance on improved and unimproved uplands and the associated trade-offs. The results collected will enable us to better understand the effect of altering stocking rates and pasture utilisation on cattle performance. The environmental impact, nitrous oxide emissions, in particular, associated with various management options will also be assessed.

An improved understanding of this is important for identifying opportunities to increase production efficiencies on-farm as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions from upland cattle systems. The red meat sector is under considerable pressure to reduce its environmental burden. The findings of this work can be of relevance to this challenge.

This PhD is funded through the Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships (KESS 2) scheme. KESS 2 is a pan-Wales higher-level skills initiative led by Bangor University on behalf of the HE sector in Wales. It is part-funded by the Welsh Government’s European Social Fund (ESF) convergence programme for West Wales and the Valleys. Non is collaborating with HCC on this project.