Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 76 1999 121–134
Pluriactivity, farm household socio-economics and the botanical characteristics of grass fields in the Grampian region of Scotland
N.E. Ellis
a,∗
, O.W. Heal
b
, J.B. Dent
c
, L.G. Firbank
a
a
Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Merlewood Research Station, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 6JU, UK
b
Institute of Ecology and Resource Management, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
c
Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester GL7 6JS, UK Received 10 September 1998; received in revised form 8 April 1999; accepted 1 June 1999
Abstract
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 19911992, 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 usemanagement 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 be 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. ©1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Farm pluriactivity; Socio-economic characteristics; Grass swards; Extensive farming
∗
Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-0131-446-2413; fax: +44-0131- 446-2406
E-mail address: noranne.ellissnh.gov.uk N.E. Ellis
1. Introduction
From the 1940s, policies in Britain encouraged intensive farming methods which resulted in losses
of both habitats and species. Semi-natural grass- lands have particularly decreased in extent, occupy-
ing around 3 of the area that they had covered in
0167-880999 – see front matter ©1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 6 7 - 8 8 0 9 9 9 0 0 0 8 1 - X
122 N.E. Ellis et al. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 76 1999 121–134
1930 Fuller, 1987, the remaining grasslands being further impoverished of species through drainage,
reseeding, an increased use of agro-chemicals and in- creased stocking densities Hopkins, 1988. Through-
out Europe areas under extensive farming regimes are continuing to diminish Bignal and McCracken,
1996.
During the 1980s, a change in European agricultural policies began to encourage a reduction in agricultural
production through the use of quotas, set-aside arable land and grazing extensification schemes. Whilst some
farm households have left farming others, affected by a consequential decline in farm income, have become
involved in non-agricultural activities to compensate, at least within the UK Cox et al., 1989. Factors deter-
mining the uptake and type of non-agricultural activi- ties are complex which are not always associated with
economic conditions e.g. Bryden, 1994; Edmond and Crabtree, 1994. Off-farm work has been associated
with hobby farmers Gasson, 1988 whereas on-farm diversification has been found to be more likely to
occur along tourist routes at least in Scotland; Ed- mond et al., 1993, where farm households are gen-
erally more qualified Corcoran and Dent, 1994 and the farm plays a strategic role in the income generated
by the household Munton et al., 1989.
Whatever the cause for the uptake of pluriactiv- ity, the rate of uptake in certain areas has increased
markedly. A socio-economic survey of 295 farms in the Grampian region of Scotland showed that the up-
take of pluriactivity had trebled between 1980 and 1991 Ellis, 1994; in Wales, the uptake of off-farm
work was greater after 1986 than in the 5 years be- fore Bateman and Ray, 1994. In 1992, this shift in
farm labour resources was recognised in the provi- sion of aid to farmers for less-intensive farming and
involvement in non-farming activities under the EC Agri-environmental package Regulation No 207892
and is now being further addressed in the latest agri- cultural reform package, Agenda 2000.
Land use systems directly determine the types and mosaic of the land cover across the farm whilst the
level of management within each land use deter- mines the type and number of plant species within
Fig. 1. For example, a purely agricultural man- agement plan may aim to maximise all profitable
land, managing intensively with maximumoptimum agro-chemical inputs and livestock numbers. In the
event of alternative employment pluriactivity, the land management plan may differ according to where
the resources of the household are redirected. In the case of off-farm employment off-farm pluriactiv-
ity, the management plan may be simplified with less emphasis on the use of all land and managed
with fewer resources both time-wise and financially through reduced agro-chemical inputs and fewer live-
stock. The result of a less intensive regime may, therefore, allow the establishment of a greater num-
ber of plant species, whilst in less accessible corners of farmland, semi-natural habitats such as scrub
and wetter areas may increase or appear. Gasson 1988 associated off-farm work with less time and
labour demanding systems such as beef, sheep and cereals rather than the more demanding dairy cows
and non-cereal enterprises. In the case where alterna- tive enterprises are developed on the farm on-farm
pluriactivity, the pluriactivity may diversify the land use e.g. alternative crops, golf courses, horse riding
although some forms of on-farm diversification do not affect the land for example, tourist accommo-
dation and farm shops. With on-farm diversification the intensity of land management may not be notice-
ably reduced because, with the household remaining on the farm, a more efficient use of time may be
made.
The hypotheses above indicate a line of influence from farm household socio-economic characteristics
to land management through to ecological charac- teristics. This study initially ignored the middle of
this line of influence and looked directly for a rela- tionship between the involvement in pluriactivity the
socio-economic aspect and the botanical characteris- tics of grass fields the ecological aspect. Only later
were the components of the socio-economic and land management data used to identify the order of influ-
ence of such on grass sward composition.
2. Data collection
