Agriculture in the United Kingdom
At June 2013 the utilised agricultural area (UAA) was 17.3 million hectares, representing 71% of the total UK land area. UAA is made up of arable and horticultural crops, uncropped arable land, common rough grazing, temporary and permanent grassland and land used for outdoor pigs. It does not include woodland and other non-agricultural land.[1]
Land use[]
Land use - overview (hectares):
| Year | Total area | Total crops | Grassland | Other land | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 18,449,000 | 4,665,000 | 12,330,000 | 1,453,000 | [2] |
Crop areas (thousand hectares):
| Year | Arable crops | wheat | barley | oats | rye, mixed corn &triticale |
rapeseed | linseed | potato | sugar beet | peas, beans |
maize | Horticulture | vegetables grown outdoors |
orchard fruit |
soft fruit &wine grapes |
outdoor plants &flowers |
glasshouse crops |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 4,502 | 1,615 | 1,213 | 177 | 24 | 715 | 34 | 139 | 117 | 147 | 194 | 163 | 116 | 23 | 10 | 12 | 3 | [2] |
Work force[]
| Year | Total | Farmers | Managers | Workers | (full time) | (part time) | (seasonal) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 463,708 | 290,418 | 11,069 | 162,221 | 62,805 | 38,541 | 60,875 | [2] |
Livestock[]
Thousands
| Year | Cattle | Pigs | Sheeps | Poultry | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 9,952 | 4,481 | 32,215 | 160,061 | [2] |
Crops[]
2012 production:
| Product | Production (tonnes) | Area (ha) | Yield (kilos/ha) |
Seed (tonnes) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheat | 13,261,000 | 1,992,000 | 6,657 | 239,000 | [3] |
| Barley | 5,522,000 | 1,002,000 | 5,511 | 149,000 | [3] |
| Oats | 627,000 | 122,000 | 5,139 | 21,500 | [3] |
| Rye | 33,000 | 6,000 | 5,500 | 1,000 | [3] |
| Rapeseed | 2,557,000 | 756,000 | 3,382 | 9,295 | [3] |
| Linseed | 42,000 | 28,000 | 1,500 | 2,720 | [3] |
| Potato | 4,553,000 | 149,000 | 30,557 | 340,000 | [3] |
| Sugar beet | 7,291,000 | 120,000 | 60,758 | - | [3] |
| Peas (green) | 132,500 | 34,553 | 3,834 | - | [3] |
| Cauliflowers | 156,300 | 17,312 | 9,028 | - | [3] |
| Cabbages | 267,600 | 10,529 | 25,415 | - | [3] |
| Carrots | 663,700 | 10,859 | 61,119 | [3] | |
| Lettuce | 122,000 | 6,106 | 19,980 | - | [3] |
| Onions (dry) | 373,610 | 8,859 | 42,172 | - | [3] |
| Onions (green) | 14,400 | 1,672 | 8,612 | - | [3] |
| Asparagus | 5,400 | 1,990 | 2,713 | - | [3] |
| Leeks | 37,130 | 1,759 | 21,108 | - | [3] |
| Tomato | 83,500 | 208 | 401,442 | - | [3] |
| Cucumbers | 63,300 | 115 | 550,434 | - | [3] |
| Parsnips | - | 3,210 | - | - | [4] |
| Beetroot | - | 1,677 | - | - | [4] |
| Celery | - | 885 | - | - | [4] |
| Rhubarb | - | 430 | - | - | [4] |
| Apple | 202,900 | 15,935 | 12,733 | - | [3] |
| Strawberry | 95,700 | 4,650 | 20,580 | - | [3] |
| Raspberry | 15,100 | 1,616 | 9,344 | - | [3] |
| Pear | 25,800 | 1,470 | 17,551 | - | [3] |
| Plum | 5,600 | 840 | 6,666 | - | [3] |
| Cherry | 1,660 | 609 | 2,725 | - | [3] |
| Grape | 1,000 | 640 | 1,562 | - | [3] |
| Vegetables, fresh nes | 74,000 | 15,110 | 4,897 | - | [3] |
Fruits[]
The Fruit Growing industry includes some 6,350 fruit growers, growing some 395,000 tonnes of fruit a year. Soft fruit, particularly strawberries and raspberries, are the most common fruit grown in the United Kingdom. Apples, including those used for eating, cooking and cider production, are also widely grown, as well as pears, plums and cherries. The industry only produces about 10% of the fruit consumed in the United Kingdom, with bananas, oranges and tropical fruit unsuitable for British conditions.[5]
Subventions[]
The owners of Britain's agricultural plot are now (2011) the beneficiaries of an annual subsidy that may run as high as £23,000 each, totalling between £3.5bn and £5bn a year.[6] Urban dwellers, on the other hand, pay about £35bn in land-related taxes.[6]
Taxes[]
Urban dwellers pay about £35bn in land-related taxes.[6] Rural landowners receive a handout of roughly £83 per acre, while urban dwellers pay about £18,000 for each acre they hold, an average of £1,800 per dwelling, the average dwelling standing on one-tenth of an acre.[6]
References[]
- ↑ Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2013, DEFRA
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 annual time series: 1984 to 2013 (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 275KB), DEFRA - found here
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 FAOSTAT: Production-Crops-Yields, 1961-2013, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Basic horticultural statistics - dataset - from Basic horticultural statistics 2014, DEFRA
- ↑ Fruit Growing in the UK: Market Research Report, ibisworld.co.uk
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 The great property swindle: why do so few people in Britain own so much of our land?, 11 MARCH 2011, Kevin Cahill, newstatesman.com
External links[]
- Statistics at Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
- https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/agriculture-in-the-united-kingdom
- https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/agriculture-in-the-united-kingdom-2013
- https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/structure-of-the-agricultural-industry-in-england-and-the-uk-at-june
- https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/basic-horticultural-statistics-2014
- Grassland in the UK - an introduction, UKAgriculture.com
- Fruits
- Fruit crop producing regions in the UK, UKAgriculture.com
- Growing apple trees and other fruit trees in the UK climate, Orangepippintrees.co.uk
- Orchard fruit - time series - Orchard fruit survey 2012 - Orchard fruit, DEFRA
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