Agriculture is typically defined as the science or business of cultivating the soil, growing crops and rearing livestock. Farming is the skill of practising agriculture. The purpose of agriculture is to provide planned food utilisation for its dependant societies and although growing crops and rearing livestock are fundamental to this, it is the storage of produce that makes this possible.
Agriculture
originated in the near east over 10,000 years ago before spreading across
Europe to reach the UK around 6500 years ago. We cannot be certain how
agriculture arrived in the UK but it is likely that it was a result
of both "idea transfer" and the arrival of new settlers from the continent.
The first farmers began by clearing the native wildwood and converting
the land to agriculture in a "slash and burn" style. Trees were killed
by "ringing" (either with an axe or by animals browsing) and eventually
the stumps rotted away allowing farming to begin. The new land that
was cleared was farmed until fertility was exhausted (after about 20
years) at which point the land was abandoned and the farmers moved to
start afresh. Meanwhile the abandoned land reverted to scrub and then
woodland, later being returned to agriculture.
Since then agriculture has continued to develop, often in phases lasting many centuries, but all having a signifcant impact on the uk countryside.
The Bronze and Iron ages, dating from around 2500 BC until the arrival of the Romans, saw the removal of most of the wildwood that covered the countryside and its conversion to agriculture. Sophisticated farming systems developed and trade (through barter) was widespread both locally and internationally. Exported corn and cattle hides, for example, being exchanged with wine and olive oil.
The Romans introduced many technical innovations to agriculture but these were secondary to the creation of a demand led economy that helped drive agricultural output and efficiency. Food followed the army and was either grown locally or transported, being produced to order and paid for in cash.
In the Saxon period agriculture reverted to a subsistence form and so it was not until the Middle Ages that population growth and trade encouraged further development. Agriculture expanded to bring every possible acre under management with moorland and high ground being converted. Wool was produced and exported in great quantities and became the UK's most important industry. Horses started to replace oxen and new approaches were adopted to raise output, all of which helped feed a population increasingly involved in trade and the professions.
However, in 1315 the start of adverse climatic conditions saw the failure of five harvests and led to the great famine, many starved to death. In 1348 the Black Death swept the UK and the population fell by over a third. Farmland was abandoned and peasants who had previously been bound to their lords suddenly found that they were in demand to take on land and farm on their own account. Over time they consolidated and enclosed their land forming the farmsteads that still dominate the countryside today.
Consolidation continued until the eighteenth century when UK agriculture underwent a new revolution based on the adoption of science and technology and yields rose. It was however also a period of wider change in society with trade fuelling the emergence of the professional middle classe. In an increasingly commercialised economy, the primacy of land declined.
The advent of the industrial revolution further transformed the landscape and led to the UK becoming the world's first urban nation. Railways, new roads and an improving transport infrastructure provided fresh food for fast growing towns while imported produce from around the world provided a greatly more diverse diet. In 1850 agriculture accounted for 20% of national income; by 1900 this had fallen to just 6%.
After the Second World War a new agricultural revolution began. Driven by agrochemicals, mechanisation and government support, production rose and for a short period overlooked the long run requirements for the balanced management of the countryside. This led to much soul searching as to the role of agriculture with calls for it to act with greater environmental responsibility. But just as the debate between food production and the environment was beginning to settle, the challenge of global warming emerged. A new role for agriculture is developing with energy production and carbon absorption perhaps, the story of the forthcoming century.
UK Agriculture website structure
Statistics for uk agriculture
|
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
|
| Agriculture contribution to economy (£ millions) |
6720 | 6852 | 7151 | 7421 | 7165 | 5109 | 5280 | % GDP (present value) (%) |
0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | Imports (£ millions) |
16828 | 18267 | 19091 | 20944 | 24280 | 25210 | 25901 | Exports (£ millions) |
8702 | 8506 | 8915 | 9881 | 10736 | 10698 | 10955 | Balance of Trade (£ millions) |
-8126 | -9761 | -10176 | -11063 | -13544 | -14512 | -14946 | Self sufficiency all foods (%) |
67 | 63 | 62.4 | 63.5 | 62.3 | 60.1 | 59.0 | Self sufficiency indigenous foods (%) |
80 | 75 | 75.5 | 76.6 | 75.0 | 73.1 | 72.0 | Total Income from Farming (£ millions) |
1499 | 1661 | 2228 | 2839 | 2558 | 2171 | 2303 | Average Net Farm Income (£) |
8700 | 13000 | 13900 | 24300 | 17500 | 17500 | 20600 | Farmland price England (£ per hectare) |
7406 | 6915 | 7172 | 7654 | 8651 | 9249 | Farmland price Wales (£ per hectare) |
5192 | 6513 | 6498 | 6107 | Farmland price Scotland (£ per hectare) |
2894 | 3984 | Farmland price Northern Ireland (£ per hectare) |
9961 | 12456 | 14475 | 16286 | 19837 | Food manufacturing GVA (£ millions) |
20679 | 21307 | 21096 | 21213 | Food wholesaling GVA (£ millions) |
6633 | 7880 | 7430 | 9731 | Food retailing GVA (£ millions) |
17947 | 19221 | 19782 | 21294 | Food non-residential catering GVA (£ millions) |
18359 | 21126 | 20864 | 21284 | Agri food contribution to economy (% GVA) |
7.4 | 7.3 | 6.8 | 6.9 | Farm plant, machinery, vehicles (£ millions value) |
6950 | 7007 | 7114 | 7215 | Breeding livestock (£ millions value) |
3849 | 4014 | 4020 | 4183 | Trading livestock (£ millions value) |
2840 | 2644 | 2360 | 2485 | Crops and stores (£ millions value) |
2191 | 2251 | 2139 | 2191 | Agriculturalt debtors and cash (£ millions value) |
4721 | 4662 | 4871 | 4662 | Agricultural long term debts (£ millions value) |
4872 | 4954 | 5130 | 5570 | Agricultural short term debts (£ millions value) |
10036 | 10113 | 10919 | 11195 |
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