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Livestock farming

Sheep standing on rocks
Livestock can have both positive and negative impacts on biodiversity

Livestock farming has hugely important impacts on biodiversity.

Many habitats and species depend on livestock and grazing is an important tool used by the RSPB for managing our reserves. Throughout Europe, grazing livestock are associated with some of the most valuable and threatened habitats. The RSPB believes that support for environmentally-beneficial livestock systems should be a priority for public policy.

However, the negative environmental impacts of inappropriate livestock production are becoming ever clearer, with the severe effects on biodiversity, natural resources and climate change being well documented. For example, it has been estimated that 30 per cent of global biodiversity loss is attributable to livestock production.*

In the UK, livestock farming practices have changed dramatically and this has been a major cause of farmland bird declines. The RSPB would like to see a move to livestock systems that benefit wildlife, reduce pollution and use resources sustainably.

Grassland management

Many birds depend on grassland for their survival, but improved grassland (for a higher quality and yield) can be a very hostile environment. Dense swards of ryegrass, often artificially drained and intensively grazed or cut for silage, provide little in the way of food sources and nesting sites.

Livestock farming in the lowlands is often based on intensive grassland management, but in the uplands too, improvement of grassland is an issue - for example, a move to silage production has led to the loss of many botanically diverse upland meadows. The RSPB is promoting husbandry techniques that will make grassland farms more wildlife-friendly, while ensuring profitable livestock production continues.

Two-thirds of the UK's farmland is grassland. However, only two per cent of this grassland is biodiverse semi-natural grassland. Identification and protection of these precious grasslands is urgently needed, along with incentives to secure their appropriate management.

Extensive livestock production

Extensive livestock production is crucial to the maintenance of many habitats which provide biodiversity benefits, as well as other services such as carbon sequestration and improvements in water quality. However, the current distribution of public funding is not targeted at those systems delivering the greatest benefits – so-called High Nature Value (HNV) farms.

In the UK, HNV farming is mostly associated with extensive livestock production in the uplands. The economic situation on these low intensity farms is often difficult, with many having to face the stark choice of leaving farming or intensifying their practices.

Declines in beef suckler herds in some upland areas are a particular concern because extensive cattle grazing can provide important benefits. The RSPB is lobbying for better support for these systems.

Dairy

Dairy farming is a particularly challenging sector of UK agriculture from an environmental perspective. Swards on dairy farms tend to be very intensively managed with negative impacts on birds and other wildlife. Pollution from manure produced during grazing and slurry spreading is a significant problem on some dairy farms.

The predominance of high-yielding Holsteins also makes the industry highly reliant on concentrates. The use of imported soy is a particular issue due to the effects of soybean cultivation for feed driving deforestation and habitat degradation in South America.

The RSPB is concerned that intensification and concentration are often seen as the only financially viable options for dairy farmers. There is no simple relationship between herd size and environmental impact.

However, all things being equal, large numbers of livestock in a relatively small area can present an increased risk of environmental damage. This risk is associated with the production, conveyance and storage of large quantities of slurry, air pollution, water requirements and impacts on soil and vegetation (where animals have access to grass). Systems based on very high yielding cows are heavily reliant on bought in feed and the long-term sustainability of these inputs is an important consideration.

Well-funded agri-environment schemes are essential to restore the depleted biodiversity of most dairy farms. There is a need for more effective agri-environment options for livestock farms and the RSPB has carried out considerable research in this area in recent years. We are calling for support to help dairy farmers reduce their environmental footprint, while maintaining a profitable business.

Pigs and poultry

Pigs and poultry are more efficient converters of plant feed into animal energy so are viewed as more resource efficient than ruminants (cattle and sheep). However, pig and poultry diets are much more dependent on cereals and oilseed than those of beef cattle and sheep, and imported soy is a key component of pig and poultry feed.

As over half of the cereals grown in the UK are used for livestock feed, the land use implications of animal diets are central to the debate of what a more sustainable agriculture industry would look like.