Livestock farming is one of the most significant contributors to global environmental damage - yet in the UK we are doing little about it.

This report from Friends of the Earth draws on new research from the Royal Agricultural College that shows the barriers to replacing soy are not so much the nutritional needs of animal or what can be grown in the UK - but a lack of policy and market incentives for farmers to change.

• The report can be downloaded here (pdf)

Hill farming

This briefing (below) summarises the environmental and social benefits of hill farming in the English and Welsh uplands, why hill farming is reaching a crisis point, and what needs to happen to safeguard a future for hill farmers. The briefing makes specific mention of the Limestone Country Project in the Yorkshire Dales.

Upland farming makes up a substantial part of the rural economy within the Leeds City Region in the South Pennines and the Yorkshire Dales. It also shapes our rural landscape as well as offering huge environmental services including carbon storage.

So, questions for debate include the interventions that Leeds City Region and its constituent local authorities can make to support upland farming in an industry where the number of farms has shown a rapid decline over the last decade. What should we asking central Government to do to ensure the long term economic viability of this sector and the rural communities that depend upon it?

• Download Friends of the Earth Briefing (pdf)