COWS and sheep may disappear from parts of the countryside - including the Dales - according to a new report.

The Country Land and Business Association fears political and economic circumstances could lead to the disappearance of many grazing animals and, in a report to be launched at the Royal Show on Monday, it highlights the serious threat to the landscape and environment if major reductions in livestock do occur.

"Imagine the Dales without sheep or Wensleydale with no cows to milk for the cheese," said Dorothy Fairburn, CLA Yorkshire regional director.

The report, A future for Livestock Grazing in England and Wales, will be presented to the Government, but the CLA also wants the public, backbench MPs and local councillors to understand the immense contribution grazing makes to the conservation and management of traditional landscapes and wildlife habitats - and how much it is in peril.

"It would be impossible to over-emphasise the contribution made by sheep, beef and dairy farming to maintaining the beauty and biodiversity of our countryside, which attracts many thousands of visitors from around the world every year", said Miss Fairburn.

"All grasslands are growing crops managed for feeding livestock. They are maintained by regular grazing or mowing and this annual cycle is essential to the conservation of rare wild flowers and other valued plants and animals."

The CLA report lists the issues confronting the livestock sector, including:

* the review of hill farming payments, which have helped to maintain the fabric of farming, the landscape and communities in the uplands;

* the closure of abattoirs, which has disrupted the supply chains which allowed producers to capitalise on the quality of regionally distinctive lamb and beef;

* the enormous structural change in the dairy sector, which has left a large proportion of producers unable to make profits from low milk prices.

The report also warns that any heavy-handed implementation of EU environmental regulation would kill the very industry which delivers the environmental benefits in the countryside.

It believes the future of livestock farming could be better secured by everyone supporting locally and regionally distinctive beef, lamb and dairy products; the promotion of smaller abattoirs, and the introduction of a positive competition policy which would allow co-operative ventures to develop on the same scale as in Denmark, Sweden or the Netherlands