Crop	Production value (2009)	Rank (largest producers in Europe)
Milk Milk Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...  and dairy products	£3,100,000,000	3 (Germany 1, France 2)
Beef Beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...  and veal Veal Veal is the meat of young cattle , as opposed to meat from older cattle. Though veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed, most veal comes from male calves of dairy cattle breeds...	£2,200,000,000	4 (France 1, Germany 2)
Wheat Wheat Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...	£1,800,000,000	3 (France 1, Germany 2)
Poultry meat	£1,600,000,000	—
Fresh vegetables	£1,100,000,000	—
Pig meat	£1,000,000,000	9 (Germany 1, Spain 2)
Lamb and mutton	£962,000,000	1 (Spain 2, France 3)
Plants and flowers	£877,000,000	—
Barley Barley Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...	£645,000,000	—
Potato Potato The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species... es	£644,000,000	—
Fresh fruit	£571,000,000	—
Eggs Egg (food) Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...	£562,000,000	—
Oil seed rape	£475,000,000	—
Sugar beet Sugar beet Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...	£241,000,000	—

Most farmers of beef cattle or sheep made another net loss in the year to April 2010. Production, veterinary

Veterinary medicine

Veterinary Medicine is the branch of science that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, disorder and injury in non-human animals...

, bedding, property, power and machinery costs all underwent double-digit rises in percentage terms, meaning that the losses in the year to April 2010 increased over last year's losses by over £30/animal. However, wheat exports were much stronger than the previous year.

The UK's egg-laying flock is in decline. It fell by 5½% in one year from June 1999 to May 2000. In 1971, there were 125,258 farms with egg-laying hens. By 1999 this was down to 26,500.

Land

Soil is a complex mix of mineral and organic components, produced when rock is weathered and acted on by living organisms. In the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

 as far south as the Thames Valley

Thames Valley

The Thames Valley Region is a loose term for the English counties and towns roughly following the course of the River Thames as it flows from Oxfordshire in the west to London in the east. It includes parts of Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, North Hampshire, Surrey and west London...

, the soil has been heavily glaciated, which not only ground down the rock but redistributed the resulting matter. As a result, most British soils date from the last Ice Age

Ice age

An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...

 and are comparatively young, but in level areas and particularly south of the Thames Valley, there are much older soils. Most British soils are 2% to 5% organic and 95% to 98% mineral, but soils such as peat may contain up to 50% organic matter.

Rain

Rain

Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...

fall in Britain exceeds the rate of evaporation. This means that in freely drained areas, soil base material is washed away, which leads to a higher concentration of organic acids in the ground. Thus many British soils are quite acidic, and a large proportion of British farm land needs repeated applications of alkalines (traditionally lime

Agricultural lime

Agricultural lime, also called aglime, agricultural limestone, garden lime or liming, is a soil additive made from pulverized limestone or chalk. The primary active component is calcium carbonate...

) to remain fertile. Nitrites are also soluble, and the soil has no power to hold them, so rain rapidly carries them away. Acid rain

Acid rain

Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions . It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen...

 increases soil acidity, but even normal rain tends to be slightly acid, which acidifies British soil.

Soffe (2003) summarises the acidity of British soils as follows:-

Land type	pH PH In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...
Sandy heath land	3.5-5.0
Calcareous (chalky) brown soil	6.5-8.0
Upland peat	3.5-4.5
Cultivated soil, non-calcareous	5.0-7.0
Cultivated soil, calcareous	7.0-8.0
Permanent pasture, lowland	5.0-6.0
Permanent pasture, upland	4.5-5.5
Lowland peat	4.0-7.0

This relatively high soil acidity is one of the factors that lead to liming. Lime tends to counteract soil acidity, and with fine particulate soils such as clays, also encourages the formation of a better soil crumb structure that will aerate and help with drainage. Its benefits have been known, if not scientifically understood, since Roman times.

Owing to high rainfall in the UK, less freely drained areas tend to become waterlogged and need to be drained. Wet land may be unable to bear a tractor's weight, and drainage makes soil lighter and more easily worked, improves crops' ability to absorb food because there is more root surface area, stimulates helpful micro-organisms and allows accumulated poisons to be carried away. In Britain field drains are traditionally open ditches, but increasingly, covered pipes have been used in more modern times. Earthworm

Earthworm

Earthworm is the common name for the largest members of Oligochaeta in the phylum Annelida. In classical systems they were placed in the order Opisthopora, on the basis of the male pores opening posterior to the female pores, even though the internal male segments are anterior to the female...

s are important for creating small drainage channels in the soil and helping to move soil particles.

Soil temperature is a key aspect of its fertility. No appreciable plant growth takes place at temperatures below 4°C. The growth rate increases as temperature rises, up to a maximum limit which is of no relevance to the British Isles. Dark soils tend to absorb more heat, and are therefore preferred.

As crops grow, they absorb nutrients from the soil, so land fertility degrades over time. However, if organic matter poor in nitrogen but rich in carbohydrate is added to the soil, nitrogen is assimilated and fixed

Nitrogen fixation

Nitrogen fixation is the natural process, either biological or abiotic, by which nitrogen in the atmosphere is converted into ammonia . This process is essential for life because fixed nitrogen is required to biosynthesize the basic building blocks of life, e.g., nucleotides for DNA and RNA and...

. Fertility increases while land is under grass, which helps to accumulate organic matter in the soil. These factors mean that soil is traditionally improved by means of liming, draining, and allowing to lie fallow

Crop rotation

Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of dissimilar types of crops in the same area in sequential seasons.Crop rotation confers various benefits to the soil. A traditional element of crop rotation is the replenishment of nitrogen through the use of green manure in sequence with cereals...

. It is traditionally fertilised with manure

Manure

Manure is organic matter used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Manures contribute to the fertility of the soil by adding organic matter and nutrients, such as nitrogen, that are trapped by bacteria in the soil...

, nitrogen

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...

, phosphate

Phosphate

A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...

s, and potash

Potash

Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...

.

Manure, nitrogen and Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ)

170 million tonnes of animal excreta is produced annually in the UK. The resulting slurry can pollute watercourses, draining them of oxygen, can contain pathogenic microorganisms such as salmonella

Salmonella

Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with diameters around 0.7 to 1.5 µm, lengths from 2 to 5 µm, and flagella which grade in all directions . They are chemoorganotrophs, obtaining their energy from oxidation and reduction...

, and creates an unpleasant odour that causes complaints. Pigs and poultry, in particular, which tend to be produced intensively on very large holdings with a relatively small land area for the number of animals, create manure that increasingly tends to be processed, either by removing the liquid component and transporting it away, or by composting it, or more recently, by anaerobic digestion

Anaerobic digestion

Anaerobic digestion is a series of processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. It is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste and/or to release energy....

 to produce methane which is later converted to electricity. In 2011, an increase in the feed in tariff for small-scale biogas production from anaerobic digestion has increased the financial viability of this last option.

Farmyard manure is among the best all-round soil fertilisers. Urine

Urine

Urine is a typically sterile liquid by-product of the body that is secreted by the kidneys through a process called urination and excreted through the urethra. Cellular metabolism generates numerous by-products, many rich in nitrogen, that require elimination from the bloodstream...

 contains about half the nitrogen and most of the potash that an animal voids, but tends to drain away, making it both the richest and the most easily lost element of manure. Dung contains the other half of the nitrogen and most of the phosphoric acid and lime. With dung, much of the nitrogen is lost in storage or locked up in slowly released forms, so greater quantities of dung are necessary compared to artificial fertilisers. Manure is most effective when ploughed into the fields while it is still fresh, but this is not practical while crops are growing and in practice, most manure is stored and then applied in winter, or else added in ridges for the root crops.

Leguminous plants such as peas, beans or lucerne live in a symbiotic relationship with certain bacteria that produce nodules on their roots. The bacteria extract nitrogen from the air and convert it to nitrogenating compounds that benefit the legume. When the legume dies or is harvested, its rotting roots nitrogenate the soil. Nitrogen stimulates plant growth, but overapplication softens the plant tissues, makes them more vulnerable to pests and disease, and reduces resistance to frost. It may be added by nitrogen-fixing crops, but many farmers prefer artificial fertilisers, which are quicker. The negative side-effects of adding nitrogen are mitigated by phosphates.

Nitrogen from soil gets into the water, and can be hazardous to human health. EC Directive 80/778/EEC and 91/676/EEC both mention a ceiling acceptable level of nitrates of 50 mg/litre, which is also the level recommended by the World Health Organisation. In several places in Britain, particularly in the midlands and the south-east, nitrate concentrations occasionally exceed this level and the government has brought in regulations to control nitrate levels in the water. The regulations governing designated Nitrate Vulnerable Zone

Nitrate Vulnerable Zone

A Nitrate Vulnerable Zone is a conservation designation of the Environment Agency for areas of land that drain into nitrate polluted waters, or waters which could become polluted by nitrates...

s (NVZ) aim to protect ground and surface water from contamination with nitrates and manure. The Nitrates Directive was reviewed and expanded in 2008, and with the 2008 expansion, from 1 January 2009 around 68% of English farmland, 14% of Scottish farmland and 4% of Welsh farmland is within a NVZ. 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. They also regulate slurry and manure storage.

Phosphates and potash

Phosphates stimulate root development in young plants and are therefore particularly valuable for root crops. They also increase yields and speed up plant growth generally. Phosphates are not easily lost from soil, but they mostly occur in very stable forms that are not liberated quickly enough by natural processes, so fertilisation is necessary. Traditionally, phosphate-bearing materials added to soil include bonemeal, powdered slag, and seaweed.

Plants tend to absorb potash during early stages of growth, and potash tends to reduce the problems caused by applying nitrogen. It also increases the weight of an individual cereal grain. Traditional potash sources included applying ash to the land and ploughing in crop residues after the harvest, and artificial potash fertilisers were not used until deposits of potash salts were discovered in Germany in 1861.

Arable farming

Arable farming is the production of crops. As with all plants, crop growth is affected by light, soil, nutrients, water, air, and climate. Crops commonly grown in the United Kingdom include cereals, chiefly wheat, oats and barley; root vegetables, chiefly potatoes and sugar beet; pulse crops such as beans or peas; forage crops such as cabbages, vetches, rape and kale; fruit, particularly apples and pears; and hay for animal feed. From 1992 until 2004, or 2006 for organic farms, there were subsidies for not growing any crops at all. This was called set-aside

Set-aside

Set-aside was introduced as a political measure by the European Union in 1988 to help reduce the large and costly surpluses produced in Europe under the guaranteed price system of the Common Agricultural Policy ; and to deliver some environmental benefits following considerable damage to...

 and resulted from EEC

EEC

EEC is an abbreviation that usually refers to the European Economic Community, the forerunner to the European Union.It may also refer to;* The East Erie Commercial Railroad, a shortline in Pennsylvania...

 farming policies. From 2007 onwards, set aside subsidies in the UK were withdrawn.

Seeds may be sown in spring, summer or autumn. Spring-sown crops are vulnerable to drought in May or June. Autumn sowing is usually restricted to frost-hardy types of bean, vetch, or cereal such as winter wheat. Traditional sowing techniques include broadcasting, dibbling, drilling, and ploughing in. Drilling is normally the most economical technique where conditions are dry enough.

In 2009, 3133000 hectares (7,741,804.8 acre) of cereal crops were sown in the UK. There were 581000 hectares (1,435,681 acre) of oil seed rape, 233000 hectares (575,755 acre) of peas and beans, 149000 hectares (368,186.7 acre) of potatoes, and 116000 hectares (286,642 acre) of sugar beet. Winter crops tend to be planted around mid-September, and spring crops as soon as the soil is ready.

Ploughing is not always regarded as essential nowadays, but the plough can improve soil by inverting it to improve soil aeration and drainage, release plant food through weathering, and expose harmful pests to predators. It is also an effective method of weed control. Ploughing depth in Britain varies between 5-6 inches in some limestone regions to up to 18 inches in deep stoneless silt land. Most British ploughs are made to turn a furrow of up to about a foot deep, which is relatively shallow compared to some other countries, where furrows of up to 16 inches are common. Other machines used to prepare land include cultivators (to break up land too heavy for a normal plough), harrows (to level the surface of ploughed land), rolls or rollers (used for firming the soil), sprayers and dusters (used to spread herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and fertilisers).

Reaping is the process of harvest

Harvest

Harvest is the process of gathering mature crops from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper...

ing a crop. Traditionally reaping was done with the scythe and reaping hook, but in Britain these have been entirely superseded by machinery. Combine harvester

Combine harvester

The combine harvester, or simply combine, is a machine that harvests grain crops. The name derives from the fact that it combines three separate operations, reaping, threshing, and winnowing, into a single process. Among the crops harvested with a combine are wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn ,...

s, so called because they both harvest and thresh the crop, are common. Other machines used include mowers, reapers, binders, harvesters, pea cutters and flax pullers. Once reaped, some crops are brought directly to market. Others need to be threshed

Threshing

Threshing is the process of loosening the edible part of cereal grain from the scaly, inedible chaff that surrounds it. It is the step in grain preparation after harvesting and before winnowing, which separates the loosened chaff from the grain...

 to separate the cash crop from the straw and chaff. Wheat, oats, barley, beans and some kinds of small seed (e.g. clover) typically need to be threshed.

Since the Second World War, scientific and technical progress and the removal of tenancy-based restrictions on choice of crop have given British arable farmers a great deal more freedom to plan cropping sequences. Strict crop rotation is no longer technically necessary or even financially desirable. Factors that influence crop sequences include the soil type, weather, the price and availability of labour and power, market outlets, and technical considerations about maintaining soil fertility and crop health. For example, some vigorous crops such as kale or arable silage will, when liberally fertilised, tend to outgrow and smother weeds. Many pests and diseases are crop-specific and the more often a particular crop is taken, the greater the buildup of pests and diseases that attack it.

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.

Diseases

Most diseases of crop plants result from fungus spores that may live in the soil and enter through roots, be airborne and enter the plant through damaged areas or landing on leaf surfaces, or are spread by pests. These spores tend to affect photosynthesis and reduce chlorophyll, often making plants look yellow and affecting growth and marketability of the crop. They are most commonly treated with fungicides, and may be called mildews, rusts, blotches, scabs, wilts, rots or blights. European Union regulations on pesticides are changing, and several important pesticides currently in use will no longer be available. This has potentially quite serious implications for British agriculture.

Two of the most serious diseases currently affecting crop plants are colony collapse disorder

Colony Collapse Disorder

Colony collapse disorder is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or European honey bee colony abruptly disappear. While such disappearances have occurred throughout the history of apiculture, the term colony collapse disorder was first applied to a drastic rise in the number of...

 (CCD), a somewhat mysterious effect that is wiping out honeybee colonies worldwide, and varroa destructor

Varroa destructor

Varroa destructor is an external parasitic mite that attacks honey bees Apis cerana and Apis mellifera. The disease caused by the mites is called varroatosis....

, a parasitic mite

Mite

Mites, along with ticks, are small arthropods belonging to the subclass Acari and the class Arachnida. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called acarology.-Diversity and systematics:...

 that also affects honeybees and may be a contributor to CCD. Honeybees pollinate 80% of plants worldwide. In 2007, up to 80% of the bee colonies in some areas were wiped out. Honeybees pollinate crops worth about £200 million a year, and their total contribution to the economy may be as high as £1 billion.

Weeds

Historically weed control was by hand-pulling of weeds, often during "fallowing" (which means leaving the land to carry no crop for a season, during which time the weeds can be found and removed). In 1896 it was found that a copper sulphate solution would kill broad-leaved weeds without seriously damaging young cereal plants. Other chemical weedkillers were soon discovered and now common chemical weedkiller ingredients include sodium chlorate

Sodium chlorate

Sodium chlorate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . When pure, it is a white crystalline powder that is readily soluble in water. It is hygroscopic. It decomposes above 250 °C to release oxygen and leave sodium chloride...

, copper chloride

Copper chloride

Copper forms two stable chlorides:*Copper chloride , CuCl, mineral name nantokite.*Copper chloride , CuCl2, mineral name eriochalcite....

, sulphuric acid, dinitroorthocresol and dinitrobutylphenol. Hormone-based weedkillers are used to kill weeds more selectively. Although most weeds are vulnerable to at least one of these substances, eradicating all the weeds from a particular area of land will usually require the use of several different weedkillers. The use of pesticides has declined in recent years, and British farmers now use about a third less pesticides than they did in 1983. The crop needing most pesticides is wheat.

Table of important crop weeds

Key
Perennial weeds
Annual grass weeds
Annual broad-leaved weeds

Common name	Latin name	Crops affected
Barren brome	Anisantha sterilis	Cereals
Black bindweed	Polygonum persicaria	Broad-leaved crops
Blackgrass	Alopecurus myosuroides Alopecurus myosuroides Alopecurus myosuroides is an annual grass, found on cultivated and waste land. It is also known as Slender Meadow Foxtail, Black-Grass, Twitch Grass, Black Twitch.-Description:...	Winter cereals
Bracken	Pteridium aquilinum Pteridium aquilinum Pteridium aquilinum is a species of fern occurring in temperate and subtropical regions throughout much of the northern hemisphere....	Upland and hill grassland
Buttercups	Ranunculus Ranunculus Ranunculus is a large genus of about 600 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus include the buttercups, spearworts, water crowfoots and the lesser celandine.... spp.	Grassland
Charlock	Sinapsis arvensis	Broad-leaved crops
Chickweed	Stellaria media	Broad-leaved crops
Cleavers	Galium aparine Galium aparine Galium aparine is a herbaceous annual plant of the family Rubiaceae. It is native to North America and Eurasia. It has several common names, including Cleavers, Clivers, Goosegrass, Stickywilly, Stickyjack, Stickyweed, Stickyleaf, Catchweed, Robin-run-the-hedge and Coachweed.-Growth:The long stems...	Broad-leaved crops
Corn marigold	Chrysanthemum segetum	Cereals
Couch	Elytrigia repens spp.	Grassland
Docks	Rumex Rumex The docks and sorrels, genus Rumex L., are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family Polygonaceae.... spp.	Grassland
Dove's-foot craneshill	Geranium molle Geranium molle Geranium molle, the Dovesfoot Cranesbill, is an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the Geraniaceae family.-Description:Geranium molle is a small plant reaching on average in height. It is a very branched plant, quite hairy, with several ascending stems. The leaves are palmate, cut 5 to 9 times...	Broad-leaved crops
Fat hen	Chenopodium album Chenopodium album Chenopodium album is a fast-growing weedy annual plant in the genus Chenopodium.Though cultivated in some regions, the plant is elsewhere considered a weed...	Broad-leaved crops
Hemp nettle	Galeopsis spp.	Broad-leaved crops
Japanese knotweed	Reynoutria japonica	Grassland
Knotgrass	Polygonum aviculare Polygonum aviculare Polygonum aviculare or Common Knotgrass is a plant related to buckwheat and dock. It is also called birdweed, pigweed and lowgrass. It is an annual found in fields and wasteland, with white flowers from June to October....	Broad-leaved crops
Mayweeds	Matricaria spp.; Anthemis Anthemis Anthemis is a genus of about 100 species of aromatic herbs in the Asteraceae, closely related to Chamaemelum, and like that genus, known by the common name chamomile; some species are also called dog-fennel or mayweed. However, Mayweed is improperly used for this genus since Mayweed refers to the... spp.	Broad-leaved crops; cereals
Mouse-eared chickweed	Cerastium fontanum Cerastium fontanum Cerastium fontanum, also called Common mouse-ear, is a species of mat forming perennial, or rarely, annual plant. It is native to Europe but introduced elsewhere....	Grassland
Redshank	Polygonum persicaria	Broad-leaved crops
Rushes	Juncus Juncus Juncus is a genus in the plant family Juncaceae. It consists of some 200 to 300 or more species of grassy plants commonly called rushes... spp.	Wet grassland
Speedwell	Veronica persica Veronica persica Veronica persica is a flowering plant native of Eurasia. First recorded in Britain in 1825 and now widespread in the United States, and east Asia .-General description:The seed leaves are broadly triangular cotyledons, with truncated base...	Broad-leaved crops
Spurrey	Spergula arvensis	Broad-leaved crops
Thistles	Cirsium Cirsium Cirsium is a genus of perennial and biennial flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known commonly as thistles. They are more accurately known as Plume thistles. These differ from other thistle genera in having feathered hairs to their achenes... spp.	Grassland
Wild oats	Avena fatua Avena fatua Avena fatua is a species of grass in the oat genus. It is known as the common wild oat. This oat is native to Eurasia but it has been introduced to most of the other temperate regions of the world. It is naturalized in some areas and considered a noxious weed in others...	Spring cereals
Winter wild oats	Avena ludoviciana	Winter cereals

Pests

Pests damage crops by removing leaf area, severing roots, or simply gross damage. In the UK, they comprise invertebrates (chiefly nematodes, slugs and insects or insect larvae), mammals (particularly rabbits) and birds (mainly members of the pigeon family). The damage caused by crop pests is considerable. For example, potato cyst nematodes cause over £50 million damage a year in the UK.

Table of important crop pests

Common name	Latin name	Crops affected
Frit fly	Oscinella frit	Cereals, forage grasses
Wheat bulb fly	Delia coarctata	Cereals
Aphids	Sitobion avenae; Rhopalosiphum padi	Cereals
Cereal cyst nematode	Heterodera avenae Heterodera avenae Heterodera avenae, the cereal cyst nematode or Ustinov cyst nematode, is a plant pathogen and an obligate parasite of cereal crops including barley, oats, wheat and rye. Cereal crops infected with this nematode are more prone to infection by fungal diseases such as rhizoctonia root rot. -Life...	Cereals
Peach-potato aphid	Myzus persicae Myzus persicae Myzus persicae, known as the green peach aphid, is a small green aphid. It is the most significant aphid pest of peach trees, causing decreased growth, shriveling of the leaves and the death of various tissues...	Potatoes, sugar beet
Potato cyst nematodes	Globodera rostochiensis Globodera rostochiensis Globodera rostochiensis, commonly known as the golden nematode, golden eelworm or yellow potato cyst nematode, is a plant pathogenic nematode... and G. pallida Globodera pallida Globodera pallida is a plant pathogenic nematode.- External links :*...	Potatoes
Slug	Deroceras reticulatum Deroceras reticulatum Deroceras reticulatum, common names "grey field slug" and "grey garden slug", is a species of small air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Agriolimacidae...	Brassicas
Pigeon	Columba palumbus	Brassicas
Flea beetles	Phyllotreta spp.	Brassicas
Cabbage stem flea beetle	Psylliodes chrysocephala	Brassicas
Pollen beetles	Meligethes spp.	Brassicas
Cabbage caterpillars	Various spp.	Brassicas
Millipedes	Various spp.	Sugar beet
Springtails	Onychiurus spp.	Sugar beet
Symphylids	Scutigerella immaculata	Sugar beet
Beet flea beetle	Chaetocnema concinna	Sugar beet
Black bean aphid	Aphis fabae Aphis fabae Aphis fabae is a true bug in the order Hemiptera. Common names include blackfly, black bean aphid, bean aphid and beet leaf aphid. It is a widely distributed pest of agricultural crops.-Distribution:...	Sugar beet, peas and beans
Beet cyst nematode	Heterodera schachtii Heterodera schachtii Heterodera schachtii is a plant pathogenic nematode. It infects more than 200 different plants including economically important crops such as sugar beets, cabbage, broccoli, and radish. H. schachtii is found worldwide. Affected plants are marked by stunted growth, wilting, yellowing, decreased...	Sugar beet
Pea cyst nematode	Heterodera goettingiana Heterodera goettingiana Heterodera goettingiana is a plant pathogenic nematode.- External links :*...	Peas and beans
Pea and bean weevil	Sitona lineatus	Peas and beans
Pea aphid	Acyrthosiphum pisum	Peas and beans
Pea moth	Cydia nigricana Cydia nigricana The Pea Moth is a moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found in Europe.The wingspan is 12–16 mm. The moth flies from May to July. .The larvae feed on Pea, Lathyrus and Vicia. The species is considered to be a pest.-Notes:...	Peas and beans
Pea midge	Contarinia pisi	Peas and beans
Bean seed fly	Delia platura	Peas and beans
Carrot fly	Psila rosea	Carrots
Willow-carrot aphid	Cavariella aegopodii	Carrots
Onion fly	Delia antiqua Delia antiqua Delia antiqua, commonly known as the onion fly, is a cosmopolitan pest of crops. The larvae or maggots feed on onions, garlic and other bulbous plants.-Morphology and biology:...	Onions
Stem and bulb nematode	Ditylenchus dipsaci Ditylenchus dipsaci Ditylenchus dipsaci is a plant pathogenic nematode which primarily infects onions and garlic. It is commonly known as the stem nematode, the stem and bulb eelworm or onion bloat .-Distribution:...	Onions
Weevils	Sitona Sitona Sitona is a large genus of weevils in the family Curculionidae, native to the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions. More than 100 species have been described... spp.	Forage grasses
Ryegrass mosaic virus	Spread by the mite Abacarus hystrix Abacarus hystrix Abacarus hystrix, commonly known as the cereal rust mite or grain rust mite, is a species of mite belonging to the family Eriophyidae...	Forage grasses
Clover stem nematode	Ditylenchus dipsaci Ditylenchus dipsaci Ditylenchus dipsaci is a plant pathogenic nematode which primarily infects onions and garlic. It is commonly known as the stem nematode, the stem and bulb eelworm or onion bloat .-Distribution:...	Clover plants

Pastoral farming

Pastoral farming is the breeding of livestock for meat, wool, eggs and milk, and historically (in the UK) for labour. Livestock products are the main element of the UK's agricultural output. The most common meat animals in the United Kingdom are cattle, pigs, sheep and poultry. Overwhelmingly, British wool comes from sheep, with only a few goats or alpacas bred for exotic wools such as cashmere or angora. The vast majority of milk comes from cattle, and eggs from chickens.

Most British farm animals are bred for a particular purpose, so for example, there is a sharp division between cattle bred for the beef trade—early-maturing cattle are best to increase yield, and those that store fat marbled within the muscle rather than as layers outside are preferred for the flavour—and those bred for dairy, where animals with a high milk yield are strongly preferred. Nevertheless, because dairy cattle must calve to produce milk, much of the British beef output is from surplus dairy herd calves.

Cattle farming

There are about 17,000 dairy farms in the UK, largely in the west. Average herd size is 86 cows in England, 75 in Wales and 102 in Scotland. Most cows are milked twice a day, and an average dairy cow yields 6,300 litres a year. The most important dairy cattle breed is the ubiquitous British Friesian, which has largely replaced the Dairy Shorthorn

Milking Shorthorn

The Milking Shorthorn or Dairy Shorthorn is a breed of dairy cattle that originated in Great Britain. It developed from the Shorthorn, which itself came from County Durham, Northumberland and Yorkshire in north eastern England....

 in British dairy herds thanks both to its high milk yield and the relatively high quality of the beef it produces.

The UK once produced roughly as much beef as it ate, but this changed in 1996 because of bovine spongiform encephalopathy

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...

 (BSE). 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. Just under 6 million cattle over this age were destroyed. A Calf Purchase Aid Scheme, under which a further nearly 2 million calves were slaughtered, ended in 1999. In 2002, the UK produced 72% of the beef it ate. Important beef cattle breeds include the Hereford

Hereford (cattle)

Hereford cattle are a beef cattle breed, widely used both in intemperate areas and temperate areas, mainly for meat production.Originally from Herefordshire, England, United Kingdom, more than five million pedigree Hereford Cattle now exist in over 50 countries...

, which is the most popular British beef breed, and the Aberdeen Angus

Angus cattle

Angus cattle are a breed of cattle much used in beef production. They were developed from cattle native to the counties of Aberdeenshire and Angus in Scotland, and are known as Aberdeen Angus in most parts of the world....

. The once-widespread Beef Shorthorn

Beef Shorthorn

The Beef Shorthorn breed of cattle was developed from the Shorthorn breed in England and Scotland in around 1820. The Shorthorn was originally developed as a dual purpose breed, suitable for both dairy and beef production. However different breeders opted to concentrate on one purpose rather than...

 is now a relatively uncommon sight.

Cows require significant areas of grassland to raise. Dairy cows need 0.4 to 0.5 hectares per cow, including the area needed for winter silage; suckler beef cows can need up to a whole hectare each. The UK produces very little veal, and UK law requires that animals are kept in daylight in groups with bedding and access to hay, silage or straw. This produces "pink" veal which grows more slowly and is less desirable to the continental customer.

Sheep farming

Over 41,000 farms in the UK produce sheep, but more than half of breeding ewes are on hill or upland farms suitable for little else. National Parks

National parks of England and Wales

The national parks of England and Wales are areas of relatively undeveloped and scenic landscape that are designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949...

 and heather moors such as the Lake District

Lake District

The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...

, the Pennines

Pennines

The Pennines are a low-rising mountain range, separating the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East.Often described as the "backbone of England", they form a more-or-less continuous range stretching from the Peak District in Derbyshire, around the northern and eastern edges of...

 and Snowdonia

Snowdonia

Snowdonia is a region in north Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three National Parks in Wales, in 1951.-Name and extent:...

 in Wales are dominated by sheep farms, as are the Scottish Highlands

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

. In the lowlands, pockets of sheep farms remain. Romney Marsh

Romney Marsh

Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about 100 mi ² .-Quotations:*“As Egypt was the gift of the Nile, this level tract .....

 (which gave its name to the Romney sheep

Romney (sheep)

The Romney, formerly called the Romney Marsh sheep but generally referred-to by the local farmers as the Kent, is a breed of sheep originating in England. The Romney is a "long-wool" breed recognized in England by 1800...

) and The Downs

The Downs

The Downs are a roadstead or area of sea in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast, between the North and the South Foreland in southern England. In 1639 the Battle of the Downs took place here, when the Dutch navy destroyed a Spanish fleet which had sought refuge...

 in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 are famous for their sheep.

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. (Although it is Europe's largest producer, the UK is nevertheless a net importer of lamb, often from New Zealand.)

Nowadays many ewes are housed indoors for lambing, which costs more but facilitates earlier lambing with lower mortality and replacement rates. It also rests and protects the grassland, leading to better early growth and higher stocking rates. Sheep are also important in helping to manage the landscape. Their trampling hinders bracken spread and prevents heather moor from reverting to scrub woodland. Wool production is no longer important in the UK, and nowadays, sheared fleeces are often treated as a waste product.

Pig farming

About 4,600 farms produce pigs, and the UK is 90% self-sufficient in pork, but only about 40% self-sufficient in bacon and ham, which reflects a traditional British preference for these cuts. Nowadays many pig farms in the UK breed intensively-farmed hybrids of types like the large white

Large White (pig)

The Large White, also known as the English Large White, is a breed of domestic pig originating in Yorkshire, hence also known as the Yorkshire pig. First recognized in 1868, the breed is the progenitor of the American Yorkshire in North America...

, British Landrace

British Landrace

The British Landrace is a British domestic breed of pig and one of the most popular in the United Kingdom. It is white with heavy drooping ears that cover most of the face and is bred for pork and bacon. The breed originated in the 1949 importation of 12 landrace pigs from Scandinavia — four...

, Welsh

Welsh (pig)

The Welsh is a breed of domestic pig native to Wales. It is a large white breed known for its hardiness in outdoor farming and its long, pear-shaped body. First mentioned in the 1870s, the breed is currently the third most common sire in the U.K. after the Large White and British Landrace...

 or British Saddleback

British Saddleback

The British Saddleback is a breed of domestic pig created in the 20th century from the amalgamation of two similarly-coloured breeds, the Essex and Wessex Saddleback. The origin of the British Saddleback is better authenticated than most...

, and formerly-popular breeds like the Cumberland

Cumberland Pig

The Cumberland Pig was a breed of domestic pig originating in the North of England; it was used to produce local delicacies the Cumberland sausage and Cumberland ham...

 and small white

Small White (pig)

The Small White or Small Yorkshire was a breed of domestic pig originating in the United Kingdom and which was common during the nineteenth century...

 are extinct. Wild Boar are sometimes farmed. They are presently covered under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976

Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976

The Dangerous Wild Animals Act of 1976 is a law of the United Kingdom that was originally enacted to deal with the increasing fashion in the late 1960s and early 1970s of people keeping interesting pets which were often from the more dangerous species, as well as hybrids between wild and domestic...

 and farmers need permission from their local authority to keep them.

The UK pig herd is declining, and there are now some units in the US that have more sows than there are in the UK in total. Pigs often used to be kept indoors throughout their lives, but welfare concerns and increased costs have led to more outdoor units, and by 2002 30% of sows were outdoors. In many countries sows are kept tethered in individual stalls, but this system was banned in the UK in 1999, and indoor sows are now housed in groups. Each sow produces an average of 24 piglets a year and will be pregnant or lactating for 340 days a year. This intensive production wears the sows out and about 40% of them need to be replaced each year.

A major byproduct of pig production is slurry. One sow and her piglets can produce ten tonnes of slurry a year. Because regulations limit how much slurry can be loaded onto a given area of land, this means that each sow with her progeny will manure at least 0.8 hectares. This is a problem because pig manure is mildly toxic, owing to the use of copper as a growth enhancer.

Other livestock

The UK has about 73,000 goats, mostly as milk producers; this number is relatively small by EU standards. Venison production in the UK is mainly from red deer

Red Deer

The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...

, with a few fallow deer

Fallow Deer

The Fallow Deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. This common species is native to western Eurasia, but has been introduced widely elsewhere. It often includes the rarer Persian Fallow Deer as a subspecies , while others treat it as an entirely different species The Fallow...

 as well, but there are only about 300 venison-producing farms. As noted above, there are about 26,500 farms with chickens. However, more than half the UK's eggs come from fewer than 400 flocks, mostly with more than 50,000 birds each.

Livestock movement and record-keeping

Farmers wanting to move their livestock outside their own farms must obey the Disease Control (England) Order 2003, the Disease Control (Wales) Order 2003 or the Disease Control (Interim Measures) (Scotland) Order 2002, as applicable. This means a farmer needs a licence from the Local Authority to move livestock. There are also minimum "standstill" periods once livestock has been moved, so for example, a farmer buying new cattle and moving them onto his farm must then wait six days before taking other cattle to market. Most livestock must be identified. Each individual cow must have a "passport" issued by the British Cattle Movement Service. Other farm animals such as sheep, goats or pigs must have a herd mark.

Disease

Designated notifiable diseases under the Diseases of Animals Act include anthrax

Anthrax

Anthrax is an acute disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Most forms of the disease are lethal, and it affects both humans and other animals...

, foot-and-mouth disease

Foot-and-mouth disease

Foot-and-mouth disease or hoof-and-mouth disease is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids...

, fowl pest, bovine tuberculosis, BSE

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...

, scrapie

Scrapie

Scrapie is a fatal, degenerative disease that affects the nervous systems of sheep and goats. It is one of several transmissible spongiform encephalopathies , which are related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy and chronic wasting disease of deer. Like other spongiform encephalopathies, scrapie...

, swine vesicular disease

Swine vesicular disease

Swine vesicular disease is an acute, contagious viral disease of swine caused by the swine vesicular disease virus, an enterovirus. It is characterized by fever and vesicles with subsequent ulcers in the mouth and on the snout, feet, and teats...

, Aujeszky's disease, enzootic bovine leucosis, rabies

Rabies

Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals. It is zoonotic , most commonly by a bite from an infected animal. For a human, rabies is almost invariably fatal if post-exposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms...

 and warble fly

Warble fly

Warble fly is a name given to the genus Hypoderma, large flies which are parasitic on cattle and deer. Other names include "heel flies", "bomb flies", and "gad flies", while their larvae are often called "cattle grubs" or "wolves." Common species of warble fly include Hypoderma lineatum , Hypoderma...

. Under the Zoonoses Order conditions that can be transmitted to humans, such as brucellosis

Brucellosis

Brucellosis, also called Bang's disease, Crimean fever, Gibraltar fever, Malta fever, Maltese fever, Mediterranean fever, rock fever, or undulant fever, is a highly contagious zoonosis caused by ingestion of unsterilized milk or meat from infected animals or close contact with their secretions...

 or salmonella

Salmonella

Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with diameters around 0.7 to 1.5 µm, lengths from 2 to 5 µm, and flagella which grade in all directions . They are chemoorganotrophs, obtaining their energy from oxidation and reduction...

, must also be notified.

The United Kingdom suffered outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in 1967

1967 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak

The 1967 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak was a major outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom. The only centre of the disease, in contrast to the three concentrated areas in the 2001 crisis, was on the Wales border with Shropshire...

 and 2001, with a less serious outbreak in 2007

2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak

An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom was confirmed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs , on 3 August 2007, in the parish of Normandy, Surrey....

. There was also an outbreak of bluetongue

Bluetongue disease

Bluetongue disease or catarrhal fever is a non-contagious, non-zoonotic, insect-borne, viral disease of ruminants, mainly sheep and less frequently cattle, goats, buffalo, deer, dromedaries and antelope...

 in 2007. The most serious disease to affect British agriculture was BSE, a cattle brain disease that causes a similar disease in some humans who eat infected meat. It has killed 166 people in Britain since 1994.

A current issue is the control of bovine tuberculosis, which can also be carried by badger

Badger

Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...

s. It is alleged that the badgers are infecting the cows. A scientific report for the government recommended a selective cull of badgers, which immediately met with opposition from other scientists. The government is currently consulting on this issue. As of 16 September 2011, a total of 27 online petitions had attracted 65,000 signatures opposing the plan.

Animal welfare

Animal welfare legislation affecting UK agriculture includes the Animal Welfare Act 2006

Animal Welfare Act 2006

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.It is the first overhaul of pet law since the Protection of Animals Act 1911, which it largely replaced. It also superseded and consolidated more than 20 other pieces of legislation, such as the Protection of Animals Act...

, the Welfare of Farmed Animals Regulations 2007 and the Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 1997. The UK has a good reputation for animal welfare, and there are several codes of practice.

Animal welfare as an issue is increasingly important to the European Union. Although welfare-conscious husbandry can have economic benefits to the farmer, because a happy animal puts on weight more rapidly and will reproduce more easily, the mere fact that an animal is gaining weight or reproducing does not necessarily indicate a high level of animal welfare. Generally there is a tension between the minimum acceptable level of animal welfare for the consumer, the price of the product, and an acceptable margin for the farmer. This tension is resolved by food labelling that enables the consumer to select the price they are prepared to pay for a given level of animal welfare. So for example, some consumers prefer to buy free range eggs even where these are more expensive than eggs from battery hens

Factory farming

Factory farming is a term referring to the process of raising livestock in confinement at high stocking density, where a farm operates as a factory — a practice typical in industrial farming by agribusinesses. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption...

. Nowadays, there are various welfare assurance schemes in response to consumer pressure.

Organic farming

Organic farming is farming without chemical fertilisers, animal cruelty, most pesticides, genetic modification

Genetically modified food

Genetically modified foods are foods derived from genetically modified organisms . Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques...

, or the routine use of drugs, antibiotics or wormers. In the United Kingdom it is supported and encouraged by the Soil Association

Soil Association

The Soil Association is a charity based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1946, it has over 27,000 members today. Its activities include campaign work on issues including opposition to intensive farming, support for local purchasing and public education on nutrition; as well the certification of...

. The Food Standards Agency

Food Standards Agency

The Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food throughout the United Kingdom and is led by a board appointed to act in the public interest...

 says that organic food offers no additional nutritional benefits over the non-organic kind, though the Soil Association disputes this. However, there are definite benefits in terms of conservation and wildlife. In the UK as in most of northern Europe, organic crop yields can be 40%-50% lower than conventional, more intensive farming and labour use can be 10%-25% higher.

The Organic Aid Scheme came into effect in 1994, providing grants to fund farmers wishing to convert to organic farming. By the end of 1997 about 30000 hectares (74,131.5 acre) had been converted under the scheme, at a cost totalling £750,000. In 2000 it increased to 525000 hectares (1,297,302.1 acre), and between 1996 and 2000, the number of organic farms increased from 865 to 3500. The global market for organic food is worth £1.2 billion a year and is increasing. The UK's share of the European organic farming market is about 10%.

Biofuel

Biofuels are fuels derived from biomass

Biomass

Biomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....

. They can be used in their pure form to power vehicles, but most commonly they are blended with traditional fuels such as diesel. In 2003, the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 saw biofuels as an answer to several problems: climate change

Climate change

Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...

, energy security

Energy security

Energy security is a term for an association between national security and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption. Access to cheap energy has become essential to the functioning of modern economies. However, the uneven distribution of energy supplies among countries has led...

 and stimulating the rural economy, and agreed the Biofuels Directive to see that production was kickstarted. In 2008, the Gallagher Review expressed concern about the effects of the biofuels initiative and identified the conversion of agricultural land to biofuels production as a factor in rising food prices. The current recommended option is that farmers should use marginal or waste land to produce biofuels and maintain production of food on prime agricultural land.

The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation

Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation

The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation in the United Kingdom is a requirement on transport fuel suppliers to ensure that 5 percent of all road vehicle fuel is supplied is from sustainable renewable sources by 2010...

 ("RTFO") obliges fuel suppliers to see that a certain proportion of the fuel they sell comes from renewable sources. The target for 2009/10 is 3.25% by volume. This presents a potentially useful source of revenue for some farmers.

Biofuel crops grown in the UK include oilseed rape (which is also grown for other purposes), short-rotation coppices such as poplar or willow, and miscanthus. Unfortunately biofuels are quite bulky for their energy yield, which means processing into fuel needs to happen near where the crop is grown; otherwise, most or all of the benefit of biofuels can be lost in transporting the biofuel to the processing area. Such local processing units are not generally available in the UK, and further expansion of this market will depend on politics and industrial finance.

Diversification

Many farmers struggle to make ends meet from a purely agricultural income, and therefore supplement their finances through non-farming activities. This is called diversification. Since time immemorial sporting rights over farmland, for hunting or trapping game, have had commercial value; nowadays, grouse shooting, deer stalking and fishing are important sporting activities. Fox hunting

Fox hunting

Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in its current...

 previously went on, but has been banned in the United Kingdom since February 2005.

There are a huge number of ways of diversifying. Farmland may, for example, be converted to equestrian facilities, amenity parkland, country clubs, hotels, golf courses, camping and caravan sites. Farmers open shops, restaurants and even pubs to sell their products.

There is grant funding available for diversification schemes, as well as other farming initiatives, to improve competitiveness in the farming sector, through the Rural Development Programme for England. The scheme runs until 2013, is managed through Defra and has been delivered to date through Regional Development Agencies. Expenditure on the Rural Development Programme for England will remain around £3.7 billion for the 2007-13 programme period, compared with the original planned budget of about £3.9 billion.

Custodianship

It was first suggested that farmers could be paid for "producing countryside" in 1969, but the real beginning of positive agri-environmental policy came with the Agriculture Act 1986. The Countryside Stewardship Scheme

Countryside Stewardship Scheme

The Countryside Stewardship Scheme is an agri-environment scheme run by the United Kingdom Government set up in 1991.Originally introduced as a five-year pilot project by the Countryside Commission, the scheme aimed to improve the environmental value of farmland throughout England...

 and local equivalents were run by the Countryside Commission and the Countryside Council for Wales from 1991 until 1996, when they came under ministry control. Nowadays schemes to encourage farmers to think about wildlife conservation and to farm in an environmentally friendly way abound, though actual payments to farmers to support this are comparatively modest.

When EU subsidy regime changes in 2013, farmers will receive a greater proportion of their payments from "management of natural resources and climate action." This forms one of the three "principal objectives" of the reformed Common Agricultural Policy. Details will need to await the 2011 budget.

Barriers to entry

In the 1930s land with vacant possession cost an average of £60 per hectare. In 1996 it cost £8,795 per hectare. Between those times retail prices rose by a factor of 35, but agricultural land prices rose by a factor of well over 100. The most extreme change was in 1972, during which year the price per acre more than doubled. Today farming land remains scarce and much in demand, and the market is still rising even in the current recession. Thus the only option for someone who lacks capital for land purchase but wants to farm is to rent land as a tenant farmer

Tenant farmer

A tenant farmer is one who resides on and farms land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management; while tenant farmers contribute their labor along with at times varying...

. Rents increased by 24% in the year to 25 March 2011. The average across all farms in England, Wales and Scotland is now £70/acre, up from £57/acre; dairy farms cost £80 per acre on average, and arable farms now cost £99 per acre.

Historically tenant farmers, as peasant

Peasant

A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...

s or villeins, had been exploited and starting in 1875, successive governments enacted legislation to protect them. This trend culminated in the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986, which consolidated and built on a century-long trend in the law. This Act was so onerous towards landlords that they were reluctant to let land. It became so hard to obtain a tenancy that the farming industry supported reform, which was enacted in the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995

Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995

The Agricultural Holdings Act 1995 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which applies to England and Wales. It is in force. The Act reformed and substantially deregulated the law relating to agricultural tenancies, and has had the dual effects of increasing the amount of land...

. Nowadays most new tenancies in England and Wales are Farm Business Tenancies under the 1995 Act, but the 1986 Act tenancies that are still in force allow for succession, and can be passed down through up to two generations of tenant. The most common route of entry into farming is to succeed to a holding, whether as owner or tenant, so a person's ability to farm is often determined by their family background rather than their skills or qualifications.

County farms

George Dunn, Chief Executive of the Tenant Farmers' Association.

"County farms are the only consistent route of entry into agriculture for young people."
Carolyn Rule, Cabinet member, Cornwall County Council.}}