The Dealer was interested to see the results of a recent farmer survey conducted by the Hen Harrier Project.

Between July and August this year, more than 500 farmers at 31 farmer consultation meetings in special areas of protection were asked to provide five words describing how they see their farm in 20 years.

The result?

By far the most commonly used words and phrases were: “forestry”, “no farming”, “big farms only”, “no young farmers”, followed by “abandonment” and “depopulation”.

The same farmers were asked for five words about how they would like to see their farm in 20 years’ time, in an ideal world. The most commonly used word was “profitable”, closely followed by “sustainable” and “still farming” and then “young farmers” and “good grazing”.

The challenges facing the Hen Harrier Project were highlighted when the farmers were asked what words came to mind when thinking of the hen harrier. The most common word used by the 500 farmers was “restrictions”, followed by “protected”, “money”, “scarce” and “land devalued”.