HILL farmers should be paid to protect water quality, wildlife, carbon stores and upland landscapes, the National Trust has said.

The conservation group said upland farming would change radically over the next decade and, where once farmers concentrated on producing meat, the Trust said in the future they may focus on farming in other ways.

Costs of production and falling returns from sales are currently hitting upland farmers hard, but in the coming years payments will be linked to how farmland is managed for the benefit of society, the Trust said.

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