Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS) is working with partners, The Farmer Network and the Fellfoot Forward Landscape Partnership Scheme (led by the North Pennines AONB), to ensure we have sustainable, long-term solutions that support the farming sector and its determination to decarbonise. 

To gather anecdotal evidence and research data CAfS will be partner in a study led by Dr Peter Gittins, an upland farmer from the University of Leeds.

“We are calling on Cumbrian Hill and Upland Farmers.” New research is seeking to interview hill/upland beef and sheep farmers in Cumbria, Yorkshire, and Exmoor to give their views on approaches towards ELMs, #netzero, and any constraints or barriers they may be facing. We want to speak to farmers who may be anxious about the future, or unsure about what new policies mean for them. Many are also seeking further information about ELMs and other support schemes available. Findings will feed into ongoing academic research into the effects of new Land Use Policies and will also be used to create a policy brief. All outputs will be shared with participants once published.

For more information and to take part in the research, please email Dr Peter Gittins at p.gittins@leeds.ac.uk or call on 07480135127.

This work feeds into our aim to have a zero carbon Cumbria by 2037 and supports the work of the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership.

You can find out about all the projects that we are currently running to support farming in Cumbria here: Farming for a future - CAfS