STRUGGLING upland farmers are being backed by the Yorkshire Dales National Park, which is campaigning for a better deal from Europe.

As hill farmers face crisis with the collapse of livestock prices, a strong pound and reduced subsidies, the park has strengthened its commitment to upland agriculture by agreeing a lobbying strategy to push the Dales' case at Whitehall and Brussels. It has also set up a working group to look at ways it might help the agricultural economy of the Dales.

And as part of that, the park is to look at practical ways in which it can support a marketing initiative to help Dales farmers sell their produce through a farming co-operative promoting traditionally produced, locally sourced food through approved butchers, restaurants, pubs and hotels. Members gave the Northern Dales Meat Initiative their strong backing.

The park is lobbying the case for upland areas as the European Objective 5b funding programme is being wound up next year, and the Common Agricultural Policy is about to be reformed.

Many projects in the Dales have benefitted from 5b funding, and its loss will be a blow to the area. Meanwhile, the likely removal of production subsidies under the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy could badly hit the struggling farming community.

National park authority chairman, Coun Robert Heseltine, pledged an all out effort to bring the plight of upland Britain to the forefront of national and European attention.

He said: "We have to continue to batter away at that brick wall until it falls over. The prospect of failure on this is something I will not contemplate. Farmers, residents and businesses need now to act as ambassadors and make a case to Government themselves."

Several members were concerned the CAP and structure fund reforms would not encourage environmentally friendly traditional farming, and Dr Peter Annison reminded the committee that any blow to the farming community would have a knock-on effect on the local economy.

Peter Walbank compared the crisis in farming to the downfall of the textile trade. He said: "All the people who were unemployed were all getting social security, which was costing more than a grant to keep the mills going. That's what I am frightened will happen in the agricultural trade."

Coun John Blackie pointed to all the newly refurbished village halls and other projects which were partly funded by 5b money to emphasise the importance of the funding. And he urged the park to publicise the uplands' plight to the seven million visitors who come annually to the Dales.

"They will not want to come to the park if it's a decrepit landscape," he said.

The scheme to introduce Dales branding for locally produced high quality meat was welcomed.

Wilf Fenten said he had come across a similar scheme operating in Germany.

"You could go into any local catering establishment and order a particular sort of beast," he said. "In our area here that would mean you would not simply order lamb, but, for example, local crossbred moorland Swaledale.

"I feel strongly that all involved should take the plunge and initiate immediately a sizeable pilot project for the Yorkshire Dales. We already have an area with a strong identity, good products and proven brands like Wensleydale cheese.

"We have farmers with excellent stock and butchers willing to start up local abattoirs so that animals reared on our fells would be butchered to the highest standards and without stress."

Kevin Lancaster warned against opening more abattoirs, saying there were already too many for the available trade.

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