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Agriculture in England
Agriculture in England is today intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 2% of the labour force. It contributes around 2% of GDP. Around two thirds of production is devoted to livestock, one third to arable crops. Agriculture is heavily subsidised by the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy.
England currently produces about 60% of its domestic food consumption. Farming takes place in most rural areas. It is concentrated in the drier east (for arable crops) and the wetter west (for livestock). There are over 100,000 farms, which vary widely in size.
The main crops that are grown are wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits and vegetables. The livestock that is raised include cattle and sheep. In the drier east, farmers grow wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, and sugar beets.
English agriculture has moved towards organic farming in an attempt to maintain profits, and many farmers are supplementing their incomes by diversifying activities away from pure agriculture. Biofuels offer new opportunities for farmers against a backdrop of rising concerns about fossil fuel prices, energy security, and climate change. There is growing awareness that farmers have an important role to play as stewards of the English countryside and wildlife.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in England.
Agriculture was introduced in the British Isles between about 5000 BC and 4500 BC, after a large influx of Mesolithic people and after the end of the Pleistocene epoch. It took 2,000 years for the practice to spread to all of the islands. Wheat and barley were grown in small plots near the family home. Sheep, goats and cattle were brought in from mainland Europe, and pigs were domesticated from wild boars already living in the forests. There is evidence of agricultural and hunter-gatherer groups meeting and trading with one another in the early part of the Neolithic.
The Saxons and the Vikings had open-field farming systems and there was an expansion of arable farming between the 8th-13th centuries in England Under the Normans and Plantagenets fens were drained, woods cleared and farmland expanded to feed a rising population, until the Black Death reached Britain in 1349. Agriculture remained by far the most important part of the English economy during the 12th and 13th centuries. There remained a very wide variety in English agriculture, influenced by local geography; in areas where grain could not be grown, other resources were exploited instead. In the Weald, for example, agriculture centred on grazing animals on the woodland pastures, whilst in the Fens fishing and bird-hunting was supplemented by basket-making and peat-cutting. In some locations, such as Lincolnshire and Droitwich, salt manufacture was important, including production for the export market. Fishing became an important trade along the English coast, especially in Great Yarmouth and Scarborough, and the herring was a particularly popular catch; salted at the coast, it could then be shipped inland or exported to Europe.
In the Middle Ages, the wool trade was the England's main industry, and the country exported wool to Europe. Many market towns and ports grew up and prospered on the industry. The medieval English wool trade was one of the most important factors in the medieval English economy. The medievalist John Munro notes that "[n]o form of manufacturing had a greater impact upon the economy and society of medieval Britain than did those industries producing cloths from various kinds of wool." Following the Black Death and the agricultural depression of the late 15th century, the population began to increase. The growing population stimulated economic growth, accelerated the commercialisation of agriculture, increased the production and export of wool, encouraged trade and promoted the growth of London and other major towns and cities.
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Agriculture in England
Agriculture in England is today intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 2% of the labour force. It contributes around 2% of GDP. Around two thirds of production is devoted to livestock, one third to arable crops. Agriculture is heavily subsidised by the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy.
England currently produces about 60% of its domestic food consumption. Farming takes place in most rural areas. It is concentrated in the drier east (for arable crops) and the wetter west (for livestock). There are over 100,000 farms, which vary widely in size.
The main crops that are grown are wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits and vegetables. The livestock that is raised include cattle and sheep. In the drier east, farmers grow wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, and sugar beets.
English agriculture has moved towards organic farming in an attempt to maintain profits, and many farmers are supplementing their incomes by diversifying activities away from pure agriculture. Biofuels offer new opportunities for farmers against a backdrop of rising concerns about fossil fuel prices, energy security, and climate change. There is growing awareness that farmers have an important role to play as stewards of the English countryside and wildlife.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in England.
Agriculture was introduced in the British Isles between about 5000 BC and 4500 BC, after a large influx of Mesolithic people and after the end of the Pleistocene epoch. It took 2,000 years for the practice to spread to all of the islands. Wheat and barley were grown in small plots near the family home. Sheep, goats and cattle were brought in from mainland Europe, and pigs were domesticated from wild boars already living in the forests. There is evidence of agricultural and hunter-gatherer groups meeting and trading with one another in the early part of the Neolithic.
The Saxons and the Vikings had open-field farming systems and there was an expansion of arable farming between the 8th-13th centuries in England Under the Normans and Plantagenets fens were drained, woods cleared and farmland expanded to feed a rising population, until the Black Death reached Britain in 1349. Agriculture remained by far the most important part of the English economy during the 12th and 13th centuries. There remained a very wide variety in English agriculture, influenced by local geography; in areas where grain could not be grown, other resources were exploited instead. In the Weald, for example, agriculture centred on grazing animals on the woodland pastures, whilst in the Fens fishing and bird-hunting was supplemented by basket-making and peat-cutting. In some locations, such as Lincolnshire and Droitwich, salt manufacture was important, including production for the export market. Fishing became an important trade along the English coast, especially in Great Yarmouth and Scarborough, and the herring was a particularly popular catch; salted at the coast, it could then be shipped inland or exported to Europe.
In the Middle Ages, the wool trade was the England's main industry, and the country exported wool to Europe. Many market towns and ports grew up and prospered on the industry. The medieval English wool trade was one of the most important factors in the medieval English economy. The medievalist John Munro notes that "[n]o form of manufacturing had a greater impact upon the economy and society of medieval Britain than did those industries producing cloths from various kinds of wool." Following the Black Death and the agricultural depression of the late 15th century, the population began to increase. The growing population stimulated economic growth, accelerated the commercialisation of agriculture, increased the production and export of wool, encouraged trade and promoted the growth of London and other major towns and cities.