TEXT A: AGRICULTURE IN GREAT BRITAIN

British agriculture has long had a reputation for its pioneering of new techniques and high efficiency, and remains among the most progressive in the world. In a small country, with a considerable proportion of mountain, moorland, and other land unfit for cultivation, the area available for agriculture is now about 46.45 million acres (18.98 million hectares), representing 49% of the total area of the United Kingdom. Of this agricultural land more than 15 million acres (6 million hectares) consist of grazing land and only 30 million acres (12 million hectares) are under crops and grass.

Due to geographic location of Great Britain (on the British Isles) the climate is oceanic in type. The winters are mild and the summers are cool, but long enough to produce crops. The warmth comes from the Gulf Stream. In January the average temperature is +3^o, +7^oC, in July +16^o, +17^oC. The winds from the ocean to the south-west bring rainfall throughout the year. The rainfall is heaviest on the west coasts. The winds coming from the east are drier. So the west side of England, with more rain and snow, has a different sort of farming from the east side, which has far less rain and even sometimes has drought.

Soil, also, varies from one part of England to another. In the county of Norfolk, on the drier eastern side of England, some of the soil is so sandy and stony that the most suitable crop is trees, yet within a few miles there is deep rich soil which, together with the dry climate, produces wonderful grain crops.

The rivers of Great Britain are short but abundant, and they never freeze. The main rivers are the Thames, the Tyne, the Humber, the Severn, the Mersey. A considerable area of land is covered with meadows and heaths.

Thus, two outstanding features of agriculture in the United Kingdom are the wide variations in soils and the significant differences in climate. The wetter and milder west of England, Wales and Northern Ireland have always had a predominance of permanent pasture and hence the raising of cattle and dairying, while the drier and colder east of England and Scotland has been specialized in arable production.

In some areas, especially near large urban centers, the agricultural scene is extremely varied, and it is possible to see grain crops, dairy cattle, sheep, orchards and soft fruits, potatoes and vegetables, poultry, market gardens, all within a circuit of 10 miles (16 km) or less.

Agriculture in Great Britain is intensive and highly mechanized. In the western part of the country, most farms are dairy. Income from livestock and dairy products is about three times that from crops. Farmers raise cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. British livestock breeders have developed many of the cattle, sheep and pig breeds with worldwide reputation. There are over 60 principal breeds of sheep in Britain.

Crop production is concentrated on the eastern side. On the arable land wheat and barley are supreme, accounting between them for well over half the acreage. Such other crops as potatoes, sugar beets, oats, maize (corn), rape for oilseed are also significant. About 5,400 acres (2,200 hectares) are under glass or plastic for growing early tomatoes and other market-garden produce.

Bulbs and flower growing are established in former marshland areas in Kent, with over 13,000 acres (5,300 hectares) devoted to these specialties.

Crop production is the main enterprise, but there are still many mixed farms on which farmers both grow crops and raise livestock. The mixed farm produces many different types of food: milk, butter and cheese, beef, pork, bacon, wheat, barley, sugar beet, mutton and, of course, all sorts of poultry, since hens, ducks and turkeys can always be fitted in somewhere. The farmer of a mixed farm therefore has a great variety of produce to sell.

Fish farming is a small but highly productive sector of Scotland’s rural industry. Marine fishes harvested include Atlantic mackerel, Atlantic herring, cod, and various flatfishes, including flounder, Atlantic salmon and Norway lobster. The principal freshwater fish is rainbow trout. Domestic fish production provides about three-quarters of Great Britain’s needs.

Of the approximately 2.2 million hectares (about 5.4 million acres) of woodlands in Great Britain, about 40 percent are in England, 49 percent in Scotland, and 11 percent in Wales. However they provide only 15 percent of home consumption of wood products. Private owners hold more than 60 percent of the total forestlands. About 70 percent of productive forest is coniferous. The most common broadleaved trees are oak, beech, ash, and elm. Pine and birch predominate in Scotland.

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