Agriculture in the United Kingdom
Agriculture in the United Kingdom uses 70% of the country's land area, employs 1% of its workforce (462,000 people) and contributes 0.5% of its gross value added (£13.7 billion).
[3][4][5][6] Recently there have been moves towards organic farming in an attempt to sustain profits, and many farmers supplement their income by diversifying activities away from pure agriculture.
Biofuels present new opportunities for farmers against a background of rising fears about fossil fuel prices, energy security, and climate change.
Farmers represent an ageing population, partly due to low earnings and barriers to entry, and it is increasingly hard to recruit young people into farming.
[13] While there is little difference between farming practices in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in places where the terrain is similar, the geography and the quality of the farmland does have an impact.
"Less Favoured Area" means land that produces a lower agricultural yield—typically upland moors and hill farms—which tend to focus on sheep and sometimes dairy farming.
The feudal system began to break down as labourers, who were in short supply following the plague, demanded wages (instead of subsistence) and better conditions.
[28] Open fields divided among several tenants reduced risk by giving all farmers diverse soils and crops, so no one faced famine while others prospered.
[39] Enclosure in Scotland is associated with sudden and large-scale clearances, perhaps due to the prevalence of cottar tenure whereby a dwelling and a small area of land is made available for so long only as the owner of it allows.
Earlier ploughs were simply large hoes for stirring the soil, drawn by animals, that left furrows suitable for distribution of seed by hand.
[47] The biggest challenge faced by agriculture was the unavailability of manpower due to the large numbers of men who joined the armed forces in the early years of the War.
[51] In the inter-war years 1919–1939 agriculture in Britain was not the subject of protectionist policies but had to absorb price falls resulting from increased domestic production and the effects of the imperial preference system favouring the Dominions.
It also gave tenants the right to remove fixtures they had provided, increased the period of a Notice to Quit from six months to twelve, and brought in an agricultural dispute resolution procedure.
[citation needed] Parliament responded with the Agricultural Holdings (England) Act 1883, which prevented contracting out on terms less favourable than a normal tenancy.
It was a reaction to the privations of the Second World War, and was aimed at food security, so as to reduce the risk of a hostile foreign power being able to starve the UK into submission.
The report influenced ongoing discussions between the NFU and the Country Landowners Association (CLA), who were trying to reach an agreement on legislation that could be presented as having industry-wide support.
[73] Consumption of oats by the human population compared with livestock was proportionally higher in the UK than in European countries, 455,000 tonnes as forecast by farm officials during 2012.
[89] The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee[90] (EFRA) of the Westminster Parliament's House of Commons is tasked to oversee and enquire into the policy, administration and spending of DEFRA.
[93] The Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs[94] of the Northern Ireland Assembly is tasked to advise and assist the DAERA Minister and operates in accordance with its mandate periods.
In freely-drained areas, soil base material (including dissolved nitrites) may be washed away, leaving higher concentrations of organic acids in the ground.
The NVZ rules control at what time of year farmers may apply nitrogen or manure to the land and oblige them to keep strict records of nitrogen-containing substances used.
The farmer will therefore try to design a sequence to sustain high yields, permit adequate weed control, service market needs, and keep the soil free from diseases and pests.
[144][151] The Secretary of State for DEFRA can, under section 98 of the Agriculture Act 1947, intervene to compel or assist with pest control by destruction of animals, birds and eggs specified in a notice.
The BSE crisis led to regulations preventing animals more than 30 months old from entering the food chain, which meant cull cows could no longer be sold for beef.
The number of sheep farmed in the UK peaked in 1998 at 20.3 million, as a result of the Sheepmeat Regime, a relatively generous EU support initiative first begun in 1980.
Numbers declined following the 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth, and the UK temporarily lost its place as Europe's largest producer of lamb, although this was recovered later.
By the latter half of the nineteenth century, as farming grew more complex and methodical and as productivity increased, there was a dawning recognition that farmers needed agricultural education.
[215][216][217][218] In England and Wales the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986, which consolidated and built on a century-long trend of increasing protection for tenants, became so onerous towards landlords that they were reluctant to let land at all.
Farmland may, for example, be converted to equestrian facilities, amenity parkland, country clubs, hotels, golf courses, camping and caravan sites.
[269] The 2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak caused the destruction of over 2,000 animals and the payment of £47 million damages by the Government after contaminated effluent escaped from the biological research laboratories at the Pirbright Institute.
