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Agriculture

Key Trends

  • 1,885,692 hectares of land was under agriculture in the South West in 2008, a reduction of 0.9% on the 1,869,030 hectares recorded in 2007.
  • The region has more permanant grassland than the English average - 51% compared to 37%.
  • The South West has more organically managed land than any other region - 44% of the English total
  • Nitrogen application rates reduced by 32% between 1999 and 2007 in the South West and by 11%  in the Wessex region

Background

Agriculture is a key influence on the South West’s environment, affecting land, water, air, wildlife, fisheries, water supply and flooding. One of the major initiatives to help influence the farming community in several river catchments in the South West is that of Catchment Sensitive Farming. This provides advice to farmers to tackle diffuse pollution and money for small scale infrastructure improvements.

Soil erosion and field run-off linked to agricultural land management is currently one of the biggest issues for the region.  It is leading to impacts on water quality, aquatic wildlife and bathing waters as well as the cause of a large proportion of surface water flooding incidents.

One of the major recent legislative impacts on agriculture is that concerning Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs). These will now cover almost 50% of the south west which require farmers to have an action programme of improvement measures including to store slurries for longer periods over the autumn and winter periods. Newly designated NVZs will need to comply with this by January 2010.

South West trends

The latest Defra Agricultural Census Survey shows that there was 1,885,692 hectares (ha) of land in the South West in 2008.  In comparison to 2007 the total area of farmed land has remained relatively stable, decreasing by -0.9%, however this was contrary to the overall England picture of a 0.5% increase and was the highest decline recorded by an English region. 

There were 53,718 agricultural holdings in the South West in 2008, a 0.8% increase on the 53,308 holdings registered in 2007.  This was slightly lower than the 1.1% increase experienced nationally and was the lowest rise recorded by an English region.

Of these 53,718 holdings, 47% (25,255) were under 5 ha in size, 20% (10,734) were between 5-20 ha, 13% (7,012) were between 20-50 ha, 10% (5,374) were between 50-100 ha and a further 10% (5,343) were over 100 ha.  This was very similar to the national picture.  Between 2007 and 2008 the greatest change was in the number of holdings under 5 ha, increasing by 1.7%.  Holdings between 50-100 ha experienced the largest decline, with -1.1%.

The nature of agricultural activity varies across the region.  In part, this is due to variation in topography, soil quality and climate. 

 In 2008, 51% (964,573 hectares) of all agricultural land in the South West was classified as permanent grassland.  This was almost a quarter higher than the English average of 37% and just over 1% higher than in 2007.  Crops and bare fallow land made up the next highest category with 28% (526,443 hectares), compared to 45% nationally although this was almost 10% higher than recorded in 2007.

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Agricultural land use
Agricultural land use in the South West 2008
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Agricultural land use change
Change in agricultural land use in the South West 2007 - 2008

Organic land

Research has shown that organically managed land provides greater potential for biodiversity than their conventional counterparts, with up to 85% more types of plants, 17% more spiders, 5% more birds and 33% more bats (Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, 2005).

 

The South West had 170,488 hectares of organic and in-conversion land in June 2008 accounting for 9% of the region's total agricultural area.  This was significantly higher than in any other region and was 45% of the English total of 375,067 hectares.  Of this 123,939 ha, 73% (106,278 ha) was fully organic and 27% (46,549 ha) was in-conversion (Defra, 2009).

In June 2008, there were 2,002 registered organic producers and processors in the South West, a 2.1% increase on the 1,961 registered in 2007 and a 48% increase on the 1,354 registered in 2003.  This accounted for 37% of the English total of 5,474 and was again significantly higher than any other English region (Defra, 2009).

Organically Managed Land in the South West, June 2008

  Hectares
  In conversion Fully organic Total (ha) Total agricultural area at June 2008 (a & b) Organic area as % total agricultural area
England 91,074 283,993 375,067 9,339,040 4%
North East 9,780 25,642 35,422 597,238 5.90%
North West 3,786 21,180 24,966 932,113 2.70%
Yorkshire & the Humber 3,841 10,899 14,740 1,106,375 1.30%
East Midlands 3,732 12,234 15,966 1,223,834 1.30%
West Midlands 8,194 29,671 37,865 964,993 3.90%
East 4,797 13,219 18,016 1,428,191 1.30%
South West 46,549 123,939 170,488 1,885,692 9%
South East (including London) 10,395 47,209 57,605 1,200,603 4.80%
           
a) excludes common grazing land        
b) Source: Defra June Agricultural Survey        

 

 

 

 

Fertilser use

Fertilisers help farmers to increase crop yields.  They can be natural (manure and sewage sludge) or artificial (ammonium nitrate). Diffuse pollution can occur when rain washes the nutrients from fertilisers into rivers and groundwater sources. Despite the fact that crop production has increased, fertiliser use has been decreasing since the 1980s indicating that farmers are using fertilisers more efficiently.

Over the last 10 years nitrogen and phosphate application rates on all crops and grass have generally reduced in the regions. However, notable increases in nitrogen were seen in several regions between 2006 and 2007. Nitrogen application rates in 2007 were 32% lower than in 1999 in the South West and 11% lower in Wessex, whilst phosphate application rates were 30% lower in the South West and 8% lower in Wessex over the same period.

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Pesticide and fertiliser use
Pesticide and fertiliser use in the South West 1999 - 2007

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