French hill farmers to teach Cumbrian farmers how to boost incomes

French farmers could hold the key to bolstering the incomes of hill farmers in Cumbria, according to the organisers of a visit to the Lake District this week by a party of 17 farmers and agriculture officials from the Lozere region of France.

The visit is part of an ongoing exchange of ideas between hill farmers from each of the two countries which the organisers – the Cumbria Fells and Dales Leader+ programme – are confident will generate a new marketing identity for food produced from upland areas.

“The farmers from Lozere have much more experience in adding value to the food they produce. But like us here in Cumbria they need to strengthen even further the identity and consumer image of food produced from hill and upland regions,” said Veronica Waller of the Cumbria Fells and Dales Leader+ programme.

As part of the UK/French link-up the economic, environmental and social value of hill farming is being evaluated from data collected from 40 Cumbria farms and from holdings in Lozere.

“From this joint venture we want to create a charter for hill farming that will give it a clearly defined identity. It will be something we can use to boost the image of food produced in the hills – probably through a label.

“The French farmers here have a strong, local, brand image for their produce. But they also go beyond that by highlighting the public value of the way they farm the land. We’ve a lot to learn from them,” added Ms Waller.

Sheep farmer Raymond Sabatier was among the visiting farmers and described the link that had been established between the French and Cumbrian producers as “an exciting opportunity”.

Mr Sabatier runs 400 ewes on land rising to 1000m and markets his lamb through local butchers and a co-operative.
He said he’d been “fascinated” by the infrastructure of Lake District fell farming and “very impressed” by the quality of the landscape.

Will Cockbain, who hosted a visit to his Rakefoot Farm at Keswick, said there was much to be gained from a greater understanding of hill farming systems in both countries.

“We can learn a lot from the French about regional branding and marketing and we can pass knowledge to them about working with agri-environment schemes.”

What do you think UK farmers could learn from the French? Have your say on our forums