Agriculture in the United Kingdom is an important part of our history and is essential for supporting a large local population without relying too heavily on imports. The system as it stands uses 69% of the country's land area and employs 1.5% of its workforce. The UK primarily produces cereal crops such as wheat (15.3 million tonnes), barley (6.8 million tonnes) and potatoes (6.2 million tonnes). However, there are problems with the current system that result from its economic situation and how it needs to operate in order for those in the industry to survive. These problems have negative impacts on the health of the local population as well as the larger environment.

 

In spite of the large amount of land, subsidies and the yields produced by farmers, earnings are still relatively low due to the products being bulk bought for low prices from the farm gate. This low profit margin has lead to many farmers needing to maximise profits using monocultures, the practice of growing a single type of crop using the majority or the whole of the land and minimises costs by, for example, only needing one method of harvesting to take place to harvest an entire yield. However, this creates numerous environmental problems and runs the risk of crop failure for the entire farm. These issues with monoculture then need to be counteracted by numerous chemical solutions that can result in health issues for people. The industry is also increasingly ageing, the average age is 59, with fewer young people being involved in running commercial farms. Finally, all of these problems will be made worse as the negative impacts of climate change begin to have long-term affects on the UK weather and climate.

 

What we see then, is a system which is struggling to support itself and those that depend on it and where current practices will only become less successful in the future. Change needs to take place and you can help out in some small way! Explore the sections for health and environment for how the current agricultural system impacts these two areas.