The North East Grazing project operates in the area between the river Tees in the South and the river Tweed in the North where there is a shortage of suitable livestock on the east coast.

The project has identified over 100 sites covering in excess of 1400ha which would benefit from a sustainable grazing regime. The project has been involved in instigating grazing on 30 of these sites through matching up local graziers to the grazing need. The project specifically targets the small and difficult sites that are not large enough to be viable for local graziers or do not have the resources to start their own grazing scheme. To help tackle areas where there is no local grazier willing to take part a new grazing partnership / co-operative has been formed called Flexigraze. This is an association of site managers who have pooled together their resources to buy ‘grazing days’. These funds are pooled together to cover the costs involved in grazing difficult sites where no local grazier can be found. The money is used to entice willing graziers with suitable livestock from further a field by covering their transport costs and helping with movements and stock checks. The objective is to provide specialist types of livestock and use them to achieve the specific outcomes required for each site.