Agriculture in Scotland
The resulting Lowland Clearances saw hundreds of thousands of cottars and tenant farmers from central and southern Scotland lose access to land and either become landless agricultural workers or emigrate to the growing industrial cities or elsewhere.
A series of reforms to the CAP from the 1990s attempted to control over-production, limit incentives for intensive farming and mitigate environmental damage.
Around 15 per cent of the total land area of Scotland is forested, most in public ownership controlled by the Forestry Commission.
The defining factor in the geography of Scotland is the distinction between the Highlands and Islands in the north and west and the Lowlands in the south and east.
[3] Scotland is half the size of England and Wales in area, but with its many inlets, islands and inland lochs, it has roughly the same amount of coastline at 4,000 miles.
[4] Scotland's soils are diverse for a relatively small country due to the variation in geology, topography, climate, altitude and land use history.
Scotland's soils differ from much of the rest of the UK and Europe and they provide valuable habitats for wildlife and flora.
[6] Scotland is warmed by the North Atlantic Drift and given the northerly location of the country, experiences much milder conditions than areas on similar latitudes.
In comparison, much of eastern Scotland receives less than 870 mm (34.3 in) annually; lying in the rain shadow of the western uplands.
[6] The windiest areas of Scotland are in the north and west, with parts of the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland experiencing over 30 days with gales per year.
[16] From the Iron Age, beginning in the seventh century BCE, there is evidence of hill forts in southern Scotland that are associated with cultivation ridges and terraces.
[18] Aerial photography reveals extensive prehistoric field systems that underlie existing boundaries in some Lowland areas, suggesting that the fertile plains were already densely exploited for agriculture.
[17] During the period of Roman occupation there was re-growth of birch, oak and hazel for five centuries, suggesting a decline of population and agriculture.
[20] The climate meant that more oats and barley were grown than corn (here meaning wheat)[21] and cattle were the most important domesticated animal.
[22] In the period c. 1150 to 1300, warm dry summers and less severe winters allowed cultivation at much greater heights above sea level and made land more productive.
[28] As feudal distinctions declined in the early modern era, the barons and tenants-in-chief merged to form a new identifiable group, the lairds.
[33] The early modern era also saw the impact of the Little Ice Age, of colder and wetter weather, which peaked towards the end of the seventeenth century.
[40] Increasing contacts with England after the Union of 1707 led to a conscious attempt to improve agriculture among the gentry and nobility.
Turnips and cabbages were introduced, lands enclosed and marshes drained, lime was put down to combat soil acidity, roads built and woods planted.
[41] The botanist John Hope complained about British naturalists who were enthusiastically exploring the landscape of colonial America while "absolutely inattentive to the natural productions of our native country".
[44] In the 1840 and 1850s Scotland suffered its last major subsistence crisis,[45] when the potato blight that caused the Great Famine of Ireland reached the Highlands in 1846.
[46] This gave rise to the second phase of the Highland clearances, when landlords provided assisted passages for their tenants to emigrate in a desperate effort to rid themselves of a redundant population that was dependent on famine relief.
After World War II there was a drive in UK agriculture to greater production until the late 1970s, resulting in intensive farming.
A series of reforms to the CAP from the 1990s attempted to control over-production, limit incentives for intensive farming and mitigate environmental damage.
Just over half of this was rough grazing, with about a quarter taken up by grass, and about ten per cent used for crops or left fallow.
[51] In June 2013, of crops grown in Scotland (excluding grass), cereals accounted for 78 per cent of the land area, with nearly three-quarters of that being barley (340,000 hectares).
Amongst fruit and vegetables, a total of 911 hectares of strawberries were grown, mainly under cover, which was the largest source of income amongst horticulture crops.
The biggest plantations and timber resources are to be found in Dumfries and Galloway, Tayside, Argyll and the area governed by Highland Council.
The economic activities generated by forestry in Scotland include planting and harvesting as well as sawmilling, the production of pulp and paper and the manufacture of higher value goods.
The 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act excluded Scotland, but introduced the concept of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which were to become a key part of managing nature conservation.
