The south of the county contains the northern part of the Wye Valley, also a national landscape, which stretches into Wales.

The land use is mostly agricultural, and the county is known for its fruit and cider production, and for the Hereford cattle breed.

The River Wye, which at 135 miles (217 km) is the fourth-longest in the United Kingdom,[6] enters the county after briefly being its border with Powys.

Herefordshire was reconstituted both as a new district as "County of Herefordshire"[11] and as a new county (coextensive with the area of the aforementioned district) (effective 1 April 1998) by Statutory Instrument as defined in The Hereford and Worcester (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996.

[12] This Order established Herefordshire as a unitary authority on 1 April 1998, combining county and district functions into a single council.

The Lieutenancies Act 1997 made Herefordshire a ceremonial county, covering the exact area of the unitary district.

[17] Poland and Romania are the two most common non-UK countries of birth for foreign born people in Herefordshire.

[20] Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers fall within the definition of a minority ethnic group under the Race Relations Amendment Act (2000).

Painter Brothers (part of Balfour Beatty) in the north of Hereford, is the UK's largest manufacturer of electricity pylons (transmission towers), broadcasting masts, the Callender-Hamilton bridge, and rail electrification structures.

Wye Fruit Ltd is in the north of Ledbury on the B4214 and is a large site of Amcor, and further west is Universal Beverages (UBL), owned by Heineken since 2007 where it cans cider.

The site of Ledbury Preserves of RHM made Robertson's jam, mincemeat and marmalade and closed in 2008 when production moved to Cambridgeshire.

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Herefordshire at current basic prices published by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Herefords are docile but extremely hardy creatures and these attributes have led to their proliferation across the world, particularly the US, Canada, South America and Australia.

In the last few years, soft fruits such as strawberries have become a new and rapidly expanding area of the agricultural economy of the county.

The strawberries are mainly picked by Eastern European workers who come over for the season and often earn more money than they could working in their own country and with the bonus, for many of them, of learning or improving their English.

[27] Although some polytunnel sites are illegal, Herefordshire Council has turned a blind eye in the belief that agriculture must be allowed to innovate; otherwise it will stagnate and the county will suffer.

Due to the cost of investing in new equipment, long hours,[clarification needed] BSE, foot-and-mouth disease and mainly falling milk prices, the county's milk production has drastically reduced, with only a few farms still in dairy farming.

Potato production started to increase, fuelled by a few other key factors: The previously pastoral soils had not had potatoes grown in them; consequently they were not infected with eelworm (Heterodera rostochiensis and Heterodera pallida), which in the east of England had to be sprayed against weekly (a large cost).

[citation needed] The intensive nature of the crop meant that potatoes could be grown viably on a given field in only one of every five years.

[30] The arms are blazoned as follows: Gules on a fesse wavy between in chief a lion passant guardant argent and in base a Herefordshire bull's head caboshed proper, a bar wavy azure; and for a Crest on a wreath of the colours a demi lion rampant gules holding in the sinister claw a fleece or; and for Supporters, on the dexter side a lion guardant or gorged with a wreath of hops fructed proper and on the sinister a talbot argent gorged with a collar or charged with three apples proper.

The Latin motto is: Pulchra terra Dei donum ("This fair land is the gift of God").

Television signals are received from the Ridge Hill TV transmitter located 8.5 miles south east of Hereford.

The A49 runs north–south through the county and is a strategic route between North and South Wales as well as catering for local traffic.

The rural Heart of Wales Line linking Craven Arms in Shropshire to Llanelli in southwest Wales passes through the extreme north west of Herefordshire with stations at Knighton and Bucknell near the meeting point of the boundaries of Herefordshire, Shropshire and Powys.

Part of the Titley Spur is opened annually by enthusiasts and a steam train is run along the track.

The RailAir[43] RailAir coach operated by First Berkshire & The Thames Valley provides connections to Heathrow Airport via Reading station or passengers can change at Reading station and then go all the way by train via Hayes & Harlington to Heathrow Airport.

Hot air ballooning is also popular with Eastnor Castle being one of the favourite launch sites in the area.

Historically, the rivers Wye, Teme and Lugg were navigable but the wide seasonal variations in water levels mean that few craft larger than canoes and coracles are now used.

The project, however, is being undertaken by a small voluntary group and there is no expected date for any part of the canal to re-open for boating.