Are red grouse and hill sheep farming competitive or complementary?
Conservation of red grouse can and should be compatible with hill sheep farming. The key consideration is achieving grazing pressure of sheep and other herbivores, so that degeneration of the heather plant is avoided. Often there is evidence of overgrazing close to the in-bye (grassy fields near the heather hill) and undergrazing of the more distant parts of the moor. This is caused by uneven grazing pressure. Additionally, well-managed moorland for grouse should be providing ideal grazing for hill sheep, especially in the summer months because there will be plenty of interconnected young heather strips provided by recent fires. These are very simple generalisations. The detail in each situation is different.
