October 15, 2003

UK Grants Financial Incentives To Preserve Rare Cattle

Farmers in the far west of Cornwall in UK are being offered financial incentives to help preserve rare breeds of cattle and sheep.

This is part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' (Defra) Environmentally Sensitive Area scheme, which encourages farmers to adopt environmental-friendly farming practices.

Defra has designated West Penwith an Environmentally Sensitive Area and people farming within the Defra boundaries that are taking part in English Nature's Traditional Breeds Incentive Scheme.

It aims to help the survival of rare breeds by maintaining grazing land that would otherwise become overgrown and useless to many grazing animals.

Without supplementary feeds, modern breeds of cattle often cannot survive on heath and maritime grasslands.