Rewilding vs Farming: Threat or Opportunity?

"They want to turn our farms into theme parks." This sentiment, expressed by a Welsh hill farmer at a 2024 NFU meeting, captures the fear many in agriculture feel about the rewilding movement. On the other side, conservationists argue that conventional farming has driven nature into crisis, with farmland bird populations down 56% since 1970 according to DEFRA data.

The truth, as always, is more nuanced. Across Britain, pioneering farmers are proving that nature and agriculture can thrive together, while others struggle with policies they see as threatening their way of life. This article examines both perspectives with evidence, economics, and farmer voices.

The Central Debate

At its core, the rewilding vs farming debate asks a fundamental question: how should Britain use its land? The UK has approximately 18 million hectares of utilised agricultural land, representing around 73% of our total land area. Yet we import nearly half our food, our soils are degrading, and our wildlife is disappearing faster than almost anywhere in Europe.

Rewilding advocates argue that some of this land, particularly marginal upland areas where farming is only viable through subsidies, should be returned to nature. Critics counter that this threatens food security, rural employment, and centuries of farming culture.

The Case for Integration

1. Failing Farm Economics

British farming faces significant economic pressures. While average farm business income in England rose to £96,100 in 2022/23 according to DEFRA, this figure masks huge variation. Grazing livestock farms in Less Favoured Areas often struggle, with subsidies representing over 50% of total income for many upland farms.

With Basic Payment Scheme subsidies being phased out by 2027 and replaced by Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, farmers face a choice: intensify production, diversify into environmental services, or exit the industry. Rewilding offers one pathway for diversification.

2. Ecosystem Services Have Economic Value

Natural habitats provide services worth billions annually. A 2021 report by the Green Finance Institute estimated that UK natural capital is worth £1.8 trillion. Healthy ecosystems prevent flooding (saving an estimated £1.5 billion annually), purify water, sequester carbon, and support pollinators essential for crop production.

In England, farmers who restore wetlands, plant hedgerows, and create wildflower margins can Farmers who restore wetlands, plant hedgerows, and create wildflower margins can now receive payments through Countryside Stewardship and the new Sustainable Farming Incentive. Some are accessing private markets for carbon credits and biodiversity net gain credits.

Case Study: Knepp Estate, West Sussex

The Knepp Estate has become Britain's most famous rewilding success story, and it began with farming failure. By 2000, Charlie Burrell and Isabella Tree were losing money despite farming the 3,500-acre estate intensively. The heavy clay soils required expensive inputs but produced disappointing yields.

Their decision to stop farming and let nature take over was initially met with ridicule from neighbouring farmers. Twenty years later, Knepp hosts turtle doves, nightingales, and purple emperor butterflies, species that have disappeared from much of southern England.

Critics note that Knepp's model requires significant capital, a beautiful estate, and proximity to wealthy London consumers. Not every farm can replicate this success. But Knepp demonstrates that alternatives to conventional farming exist.

Farmer Concerns: Voices from the Land

1. Food Security

With the UK already importing nearly half its food, farmers argue that rewilding productive land is irresponsible. "Every acre we take out of production is food we have to import from countries with lower environmental standards," argues Minette Batters, former NFU President.

The counter-argument is that much rewilding focuses on marginal land that produces little food anyway. Upland sheep farms, for example, contribute less than 1% of UK meat production while receiving disproportionate subsidies.

2. Rural Employment and Communities

This cultural dimension is often overlooked in economic analyses. Farming shapes rural communities, from the Welsh language heartlands to Scottish crofting traditions. When farms close, schools, pubs, and shops often follow.

3. Unintended Consequences

Farmers point to practical problems with rewilding. Abandoned farmland can become dominated by invasive species like bracken or ragwort. Reintroduced beavers flood agricultural land. Deer populations explode without predators, damaging crops and causing traffic accidents.

The Economic Reality

Hard numbers reveal the complexity of this debate. According to DEFRA data:

The economic case for rewilding is strongest on unproductive marginal land where farming already requires heavy subsidy. It's weakest on productive lowland farms where conventional agriculture remains viable.

UK Case Studies: Beyond Knepp

Holkham Estate, Norfolk

Unlike Knepp, the 25,000-acre Holkham Estate proves that nature recovery and productive agriculture can coexist. Director of Conservation Jake Fiennes, author of 'Land Healer', has restored wetlands, created wildlife corridors, and reintroduced water voles, while the estate continues large-scale arable farming.

Holkham manages 9,600 acres of National Nature Reserve alongside commercial farming, demonstrating that working farms can contribute to landscape-scale conservation.

Wild Ken Hill, Norfolk

Since 2019, this Norfolk estate has combined rewilding with continued farming. The project uses conservation grazing with Konik ponies and Exmoor ponies, sells wild-range meat, and hosts the BBC Springwatch programme. Wild Ken Hill demonstrates that even recently converted farmland can rapidly recover biodiversity while generating income.

The Grange Project, Wales

Closer to home, the Grange Project demonstrates small-scale rewilding on a Welsh hillside. The project combines nature restoration with community education, regenerative grazing, and sustainable tourism through an off-grid cabin stay.

"We're not anti-farming," explains the project. "We work with neighbouring farmers, share knowledge, and show that small-scale rewilding can benefit the whole community."

Finding Middle Ground

The most promising solutions emerge when farmers and conservationists collaborate rather than conflict. Several approaches are gaining traction:

1. Regenerative Agriculture

Regenerative farming uses practices like no-till cultivation, cover cropping, and diverse rotations to rebuild soil health while producing food. Farms like Groundswell in Hertfordshire demonstrate that yields can be maintained while reducing inputs and restoring soil carbon.

2. Agroforestry

Integrating trees with farming creates wildlife habitat, sequesters carbon, and can improve livestock welfare through shade and shelter. Stephen Briggs's Whitehall Farm in Cambridgeshire combines apple orchards with arable crops, creating a productive and wildlife-rich landscape.

3. Landscape-Scale Collaboration

Projects like Wendling Beck in Norfolk bring six neighbouring landowners together across 2,000 acres to create connected wildlife corridors. The project combines biodiversity net gain, carbon credits, and regenerative agriculture to provide stable returns while delivering remarkable nature recovery.

The Future of UK Farming and Nature

In England, the transition from Basic Payment Scheme to Environmental Land Management represents the biggest change to UK agricultural policy in 50 years. By 2027, farmers will only receive public money for public goods, primarily environmental outcomes.

This policy shift creates both opportunity and risk. Farmers who embrace change can access new income streams. Those who cannot or will not adapt face an uncertain future. The average age of UK farmers is 59, and many are approaching retirement without successors.

What's needed is:

• Better support for transition: Farmers need advice, training, and financial bridging to shift practices
• Realistic economics: Environmental payments must genuinely compete with food production income
• Local solutions: One-size-fits-all policies fail; what works in Norfolk differs from Snowdonia
• Respect for farming culture: Conservationists must acknowledge the valid concerns of farming communities
• Long-term thinking: Both sides need to move beyond short-term conflicts to envision sustainable rural landscapes

The Case for Land Sparing

Some conservationists argue that the best approach is "land sparing": protecting some areas entirely for nature while farming more intensively elsewhere. This contrasts with "land sharing" approaches that try to integrate wildlife across working farmland.

The land sparing argument holds that half-measures fail both nature and food production. Species requiring large territories, minimal disturbance, or specific habitat conditions cannot survive on farms, however wildlife-friendly. Meanwhile, extensive low-yield farming across large areas may produce less food per unit of land than intensive farming on a smaller area, requiring more total land under cultivation globally.

Under this model, marginal farmland, particularly the uplands where farming is only viable through subsidies, could be given entirely back to nature. Productive lowland farms would continue intensive production, perhaps with wildlife corridors and margins, but not attempting to be nature reserves themselves. Both approaches have merit, and the optimal balance likely varies by landscape.

Conclusion: Beyond the Binary

The rewilding vs farming debate often generates more heat than light. The reality is that Britain needs both productive agriculture and thriving nature. The question is not whether to choose one over the other, but how to integrate them across our landscapes.

Some land, particularly unproductive uplands and degraded areas, may be better suited to rewilding. Productive farmland should remain in agriculture, but with practices that support rather than undermine nature. And everywhere, farmers deserve respect, fair payment, and genuine partnership in shaping rural futures.

The farmers who are finding success, from Knepp to the Grange Project, share a common trait: they rejected the false binary and found creative ways to produce food, restore nature, and build sustainable rural businesses. Their examples offer hope that the conflict can become collaboration.