Sustainability strategies and stakeholder management for upland farming

Upland farming provides important benefits to society. To retain these benefits, measures to encourage farms to adopt practices that balance economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainability are required. This study used survey data from a sample of farms located in less-favoured areas in Northern England to identify the trade-offs between the three dimensions of farm-level sustainability and the impacts of farm behaviours on them, including diversification, participation in agri-environmental policies and stakeholder management. Results showed that farm businesses may face a trade-off between improving economic and environmental performance through their decisions about participating in agri-environmental schemes and that strengthening relationships with some stakeholders is critical for achieving sustainability. This suggests that future policy design may simultaneously improve three dimensions of sustainability by promoting environmental conservation activities through non-economic incentives and by encouraging farm businesses to build good working relationships with their stakeholders.

Automated summary

To maintain the important benefits of upland farming, measures must be taken to encourage farms to adopt practices that balance economic, environmental, and social aspects of sustainability. This study used survey data to identify trade-offs between these dimensions and the impacts of farm behaviors. The results indicate the need for policies that promote environmental conservation activities through non-economic incentives and encourage good relationships with stakeholders in order to improve overall sustainability.