TFA Blog #354 – Dartmoor in the Balance: Ponies, Cattle and Sheep Facing an Uncertain Future

Helen Radmore, TFA National Vice-Chair, farms with her husband and family on Dartmoor and sees first-hand the challenges of farming within one of England’s most protected landscapes and one that sits above a vast reserve of the nation’s carbon stores.

Recent press coverage of the potential culling of Dartmoor ponies to reduce overgrazing has brought renewed attention to a tension that upland farmers have been navigating for years: how to farm productively within a protected environment while meeting increasingly demanding environmental targets.

A Policy Landscape Full of Contradictions

DEFRA’s emerging farm schemes are designed to reduce livestock numbers in the name of increasing biodiversity. The question of whether this represents land sparing or land sharing is one that upland farmers are grappling with daily. Reading across the Land Use Framework, climate change scenarios, the 30 by 30 strategy and the anticipated 25-year Farming Roadmap, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that DEFRA policy documents do not always speak with one voice on what is achievable and what remains aspirational.

The stated intention was to reward upland farmers across England for the full range of public goods they produce while continuing to farm. In practice, the delivery of that ambition has proved more complicated.

The Numbers on the Ground

DEFRA’s advisors at Natural England recommended a stocking figure of 0.24 livestock units per hectare as the starting point before a profit forgone value was attributed to upland and commons schemes. It is worth noting that fewer than a third of Dartmoor’s upland commons are currently in environmental agreements and many of those are already exceeding that figure despite having reduced stock by 50 per cent or more when the schemes began.

When economists were asked to set a payment rate, the figure attached to the scheme was based on 0.16 livestock units per hectare under profit forgone. In practical terms, that is one cow to every 6.25 hectares, or roughly nine football pitches. For farmers already operating within significantly reduced stocking levels, this represents a further reduction of around a third simply to qualify for a payment.

Thirty Years of Stewardship: What Has It Delivered?

Decades of environmental stewardship on Dartmoor have not always produced the outcomes intended. Reduced grazing has in some areas led to a build-up of coarser, unpalatable grasses, a reduction in biodiversity and an increase in fuel load, with implications for wildfire risk. The communities that depend on upland farming are at a critical point.

The Choices Facing Dartmoor’s Commoners

For farmers on Dartmoor, the current framework presents a limited set of options. They can remain outside environmental schemes and continue farming within the natural constraints of the upland environment. Or they can enter the schemes, accepting the requirement to further reduce their livestock, in some cases beginning with their ponies, then their cattle and sheep, moving progressively towards a part-time farming model.

For tenant farmers, that second path is often not viable. Stock is not simply a farming preference; it is the means by which rent is paid and businesses are sustained. A framework that asks tenant farmers to significantly reduce their productive capacity without adequately accounting for that financial reality is one that risks accelerating the very decline it seeks to prevent.

The TFA continues to engage with DEFRA and Natural England to ensure that the particular circumstances of upland tenant farmers are properly understood and reflected in the design of future schemes.

-Ends-

This blog has been written by Helen Radmore, TFA Vice-National Chair on 23 June 2026.

Related articles:

TFA Blog #351 – New £30 Million Wildlife-Rich Habitat Fund for Protected Landscapes

TFA Blog #352 – What are We to Expect in the DEFRA 25-Year Farming Roadmap

National Trust & Tenant Farmers: Balancing Farming, Nature Recovery and Tenant Livelihoods

TFA Media Release MR23/11 – Natural England Must Halt Assault on Grazing until Dartmoor Review Process Completed

TFA Media Release MR23/12 – Independent Dartmoor Review Calls for Complete Overhaul of Policy and Practice

Watch On Demand – TFA Webinar: The Dartmoor Review: Conclusions and Impact for Other Protected Sites

Further Resources from the TFA:

TFA members can get expert one-to-one advice and guidance, by calling TFA head office on 0118 930 6130.