Farmers and crofters have long been stewards of the countryside. They and their forebears are part of a tradition of human activity that has shaped the landscape, creating new and different habitats for wildlife while carrying out their everyday activities. Yet modern agriculture also puts pressure on the land and has the potential to exclude almost all wildlife, particularly in an economic climate that necessitates maximum production.

Since the end of the Second World War, agricultural policies and support mechanisms have encouraged food production and self-sufficiency. In recent years however, the over-supply of European markets (partly the result of more imports), the increased strength of the pound, high fuel costs and a number of other factors have combined to create a climate in which the nature and function of farming is increasingly questioned.

The desperately low levels of farm incomes at present, in conjunction with the restructuring of agricultural policy throughout Europe makes the future highly uncertain. Food production will surely remain one primary aim of farming, although agricultural support will encourage a multi-benefit approach as we have seen in forestry in the last decade.

In the farm and croft land up straths such as at Dunbeath and Berriedale, low intensity farming techniques supports a variety of unimproved, herb-rich grasslands and hay meadows, important habitats in biodiversity terms.

The sward can include a wide variety of plants such as orchids, devil's bit-scabious, birds-foot trefoil, and meadowsweet. Caithness' rough grasslands support good populations of brown hares and water voles, which, along with rabbits, form an important part of the diet of hunting raptors and wildcats. This habitat also supports high populations of insects, which provide a food supply for birds like grey partridge and skylarks.

Recent amateur survey work has shown that Scotland is the last area of Europe where grassland fungi are reasonably widespread, and Caithness contains its share of these. Grassland fungi are generally found on well-drained, well-leached, unfertilised and unimproved sites that are moderately grazed.

The UK Biodiversity Action Plan splits rough grazing into several categories:

Improved grasslands and reseeds may be low in plant diversity, but in Caithness they are important feeding areas for many wading birds such as golden plover, lapwing, curlew and redshank. Where these grasslands have wet patches and areas of longer vegetation, they provide greater opportunities for wildlife. Migrant and over-wintering geese feed on many of the improved grassland fields, and some raptors utilise these fields for hunting.

Agri-environment schemes such as the Countryside Premium Scheme, Rural Stewardship Scheme, Organic Aid Scheme and management initiatives on protected sites

RSPB corncrake scheme - payments for late cut hay

Caithness is one of the few areas that still support mixed farming and crofting. The production of a range of crops along with the rearing of cattle and sheep is the key to the richness and variety of wildlife that we see on agricultural land in the county. If this system is lost, so too will be the diversity of habitats and there will be a detrimental change in the structure of the countryside.

The relatively uniform crop structure and low species diversity produced by intensive arable cropping provides a limited habitat for wildlife. Cultivated fields can support a flora of annual weeds, including the nationally rare purple ramping fumitory, which provide seeds and attract insects for bird-life. The stubble left after the combine gives cover and a welcome source of food for small passerines such as brambling, chaffinch and greenfinch.

The field margins offer a wider range of habitats to wildlife and plantlife. Hedges and dykes provide a refuge for plants, insects and small mammals, as well as acting as wildlife corridors. Field margins such as conservation headlands - where the outermost strip of the crop is managed to control weeds rather than eradicate them, and grass margins - where an undisturbed grass strip is established around the field edge are both valuable tools that improve biodiversity on arable and mixed farms. Ditches and streams provide valuable habitats for flowering plants that in-turn support invertebrates such as butterflies and beetles.

Semi-natural woodlands are rare in Caithness, limited to small pockets along the straths and stream edges such as at Berriedale, Dunbeath and Dirlot Gorge. They are remnants of once extensive native forests that existed throughout the area, and form a valuable refuge for our woodland flora and fauna.

The main type of semi-natural woodland in Caithness is birch woodland. Dominated by downy birch mixed with rowan, hazel and aspen, the trees are typically small and the canopy open. Aspen is a species of particular biodiversity importance and little is known of its extent in Caithness. Woodland plants include wood anemone, wood spurge, lords and ladies, herb Robert, dog rose and burnet rose. Birch dominated woodland is particularly important for invertebrates, and roe deer, yellowhammer, greenfinch, tawny owl, sparrowhawk, kestrel, buzzard and raven can all be seen here. On summer evenings, pipistrelle bats leave their roosts in the trees to hunt for insects along the waters edge.