Pluriactivity, farm household socio-economics and the botanical characteristics of grass fields in the Grampian region of Scotland

The maintenance of low-intensity farming is important for the conservation of habitats and species and is a particular issue in Europe as areas under extensive farming regimes continue to diminish. Current proposals for agricultural reform in Europe are seeking to retain and encourage extensive farming partly by seeking to redirect farm workers into non-farm activities such as leisure activities, marketing and processing. In 1991/1992, the botanical characteristics of grass fields on farms where farm households were engaged in non-farm activities (pluriactivity) were compared to those where the farm was fully employed in agriculture. This was done through a botanical and land use/management survey carried out on 71 lowland farms in the Grampian region of Scotland on which a socio-economic survey had been undertaken. Pluriactivity was found to be related to the socio-economic characteristics of the household, so therefore, could not he associated directly with the type and intensity of farming, and hence the botanical composition of the grass swards. The mean age of non-pluriactive farm households was significantly greater than that of pluriactive households and the farms were generally larger. Land management, particularly the rate of reseeding, had the greatest impact on the grass swards. All pluriactive farms had more plant species within their fields than non-pluriactive farms, but the greatest difference was between the non-pluriactive farms and those with off-farm work. The main conclusion is that land management has the greatest over-riding influence on the species composition of grass fields but that the type and intensity of management is influenced by the farm and household characteristics, particularly any involvement in non-agricultural activities. Households not involved in non-agricultural activities were more likely to be farming intensively. The implication of the study is that agricultural and rural policies need to recognise the ecological importance of smaller farms and in particular their association with off-farm work.