Lowland livestock and dairy farming

Lowland livestock and dairy farms are mostly found in Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway, the Borders, Orkney, Caithness and parts of Tayside and Grampian. Although dairy farming is still important in terms of Scottish agricultural production, the number of dairy cows has dropped from 285 000 to 198 000, and nearly half of Scotland's dairy holdings have disappeared between the early 1980's and 2008. Despite an increase of the price paid to farmers for milk, the significant rise in the cost of fuel, fertilisers and feed weakens the dairy sector. In these circumstances, Scotland's dairy farms will be under pressure to improve their use of resources at the farm level in order to secure a better income while ensuring that milk, cheese and butter are not produced to the detriment of the environment.

Lowland livestock and dairy farms include permanent and temporary grasslands, and arable land, as well as animal housing, forage stores and cattle yards. Dairy and meat production is expensive in energy, and temporary grassland sown with ryegrass provides the rich feed required by livestock production. The intensive level of management is often associated with lower biodiversity and high risks of pollution: greenhouse gas emission, loss of nitrates in the environment, erosion on winter grazing.

Nevertheless, this land-use also offers opportunities for biodiversity on arable land and species-rich permanent pastures, though these are increasingly rare. Improved grassland has more limited benefits for wildlife but can be important as a feeding ground for birds such as the curlew, oyster-catcher and redshank and encourage populations of small mammals for owls and birds of prey. Several kinds of wild geese (e.g. barnacle geese, greylag geese) feed on agricultural grassland and the numbers of these have increased greatly over the past twenty years. Management schemes on Islay and Kintyre provide feeding areas for geese, and on Tiree and the Uists help to control agricultural damage they cause. Wetland are also important features for wildlife and for regulating the flow of water on lowland farms, helping to prevent flooding. Although many of these habitats have been drained for agricultural production in the past, the number of ponds in the lowlands increased from 14,000 to 18,000 between 1990 and 2007.

Lowland landscapes are largely influenced by farming activities. Richly coloured soils, flat or gently sloping ground, bold field patterns and varied cropping give lowland areas wide horizons and a seasonal variety of colours. Hedged pastures, hedgerow trees and avenues associated with dairying make a significant contribution to local landscape character in the south-west. In eastern Scotland, mixed and arable farming have created a pattern of larger, more open fields. Drystone dykes, estate walls and old farm buildings reflect the colours, textures and qualities of local stone, design and construction methods. Along with small policy woodlands, frequently planted as cover for game, they contribute to the character and history of the lowland farming setting.