SUE Peach farms 80 acres outside Widecombe. Drystone Farm, above Jordan, belonged to her father and grandfather before her. 'When my grandfather was here he employed people on winter duties to do hedging and walling – routine maintenance jobs. My father did all the work himself and the pressures got tighter.' Now the farm income is insufficient to raise the family and her husband goes out to work, leaving her to run the farm. She is in the higher level Environmental Stewardship Scheme and is paid £112 per hectare, although she estimates the work actually costs two or three times that. 'I have got a species-rich field, with a lot of flowers and different grasses which attract insects and butterflies. On the farm we have got fritillary pearl bordered and marsh fritillaries and a lot of yellowhammers, which are in massive decline. We've also got greater horseshoe, long-eared brown and pipistrelle bats. 'I am working towards developing more species-rich fields under the scheme.' She is also doing bracken management. Bracken, if left unchecked, crowds out other vegetation. 'Fritillaries need a certain amount of bracken for breeding but they also need open spaces. It's not money for old rope, the cross compliance conditions are getting quite stringent.' Scaffolding is going up on her old stone barns – 80 per cent of the cost of renovation is coming from grants. 'I am very grateful that I am having some payments to bring my barns back in a good condition, but I still have to pay 20 per cent. 'What we need in farming is for the core business to be profitable. I belong to the Meat Group Dartmoor, selling beef and lamb direct to the customer. ' Since foot-and-mouth, farmers have woken up to the vital role their landscaping work plays in the local economy. 'There is very little money in keeping Dartmoor ponies but they are a hugely-important tourist attraction and very good at keeping the gorse down in winter. 'Not only is the farming industry supporting the landscape value but also a whole myriad of people that depend on us.' She worries that as the EU gets larger, farming grants are going to get tighter. Competition to get on to schemes is also growing among farmers, with not enough money to go round. 'I think farmers are maligned. The majority are not vandals. Farmers appreciate the landscape and wildlife. You wouldn't do it for the money. 'There is a strong ethos in farming families to leave the land in better heart that you got it in.