Post-war Changes in Field Sizes - Coursework Example

Post-war Changes in Field Sizes The United Kingdom has enacted Agricultural Act 1947 in order to achieve self sufficiency in food production. “In thesecond half of the 20th Century farmers were encouraged to maximize yields through the use of increased artificial inputs and improved plant and animal genetics.” (http://www.ecifm.rdg.ac.uk/postwarag.htm) Government has introduced subsidy and more emphasize was given to mechanization. Government also introduced several supportive measures. Agriculture plays a key role in Western European life and a large part of the land is used for farming purpose. It is also home to a considerable part of European bio-diversity. Agricultural Land: Yorkshire, one of the largest historic counties in Britain, has a population of approximately five million. The area is surrounded by North Sea, Durham County Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire, and Westmorland. The Yorkshire County is divided into north, west and east ridings. The city of York is not part of any of the ridings. “Agricultural fields cover 75 per cent of the land in Yorkshire.” (http://www.soilassociation.org/web/sa/psweb.nsf/A5/yorkshire.html) The large urban area serves as the potential market for agricultural products. Agriculture sector in Yorkshire has seen tremendous changes over the course of the past 50 years. Earlier, the fields were divided in to small holdings, owned by a larger member of people. Now the tendency is to own larger units of specialized farms. Obviously larger farms have several advantages over smaller units. After the Second World War, farming practices have become intensive. With government guarantee in prices, more farmers resorted to capital investments and started increased use of modern technology, especially machines. Generally, a large capital investment is required for effective implementation of machines. Introduction of machine in small holdings is not very profitable. All these factors have necessitated large farm lands. The advantages of the larger farmland are many. Firstly, output has increased significantly. Over the 50 years, more than 100 per cent productivity increase has seen in some of the crops. Secondly, it has made mechanization easier. Use of machines resulted reduction in expenditure. It has also made operations quicker and faster. Thirdly, it has led to specialization of crops, now the focus is on cultivating more profitable crops. Fourthly, it has also highly helpful in effective management of the agricultural land. Fifthly, use of modern technology in large farms resulted substantial increase in yield, and reduction in labour costs. Moreover, though only two per cent of people employed in agriculture, farmland intensification, introduction of machines, and support of the government have resulted output of the most of the agricultural products surpass the demand. Intensification and larger farmlands have its drawbacks too. The harmful effect on the biodiversity is the main disadvantage. A “large number of organisms associated with the farmland has disappeared in Britain as a result of the intensified agricultural activities” (Robert. A.R 2002). Between 1956-2006, the decline in farmlands of Yorkshire was 30 to 40 per cent. A large number of small holdings were converted to large farmlands. A holding of 500 acres of land, which was a rare occurrence in 1956, is now common. Another visible trend, during this period was the separation of land into tillage and pastoral lands. Mean field size: As of the year 2006, the mean field sizes of small holdings have reduced drastically, when compared to the size of the holdings in year 1956. The primary reasons for this are mechanization, which is very capital intensive and necessitated larger farms for its profitable use. In order to use modern technology, it became necessary that the farming fields have a larger size. The deployment of tractors and sophisticated tillers required a larger area for economy. Thus a focus was given to merging of smaller areas into larger fields by levelling and combining the smaller units of land. As a result of which small holdings enlarged into big units and became subject to increased intensification. Thus over a period of time the mean field sizes grew from small holdings to larger farmlands. Effects due to proximity to farm houses and access to roads: Since the last fifty years (that is from year 1956) there have been considerable changes in the agricultural sector in Yorkshire. One of the important changes is the conversion of the small holdings into larger farmlands. Farmhouses and accessibility to roads have also contributed significantly to these changes. It has resulted in reduced expenditures, intensification of farmland, drastic increase in output, effective and enhanced use of fertilizers, pesticides and mechanization resulting in a more effective management of the farm lands and crop specialization. There is a definite trend towards larger specialized farm units as compared to smaller farm units that has been in vogue during 1956. The proximity to farm buildings reduces expenditures since the transport charges are reduced and can lead to better profit margins. Over the years, smaller holdings became larger and larger holdings were intensified to get maximum yield. A focus was given on making the farm units bigger in size due to several advantages that entailed, like: better soil utilization, instead of multiple crops, single crop could be grown, resulting in higher returns and profits, which may not have been present during 1956. Roads offered better proximity of farmhouses, which enabled a better control mechanism over the agricultural lands. This ensured efficiency and cost effectiveness in all farming operations. It also opened up extra benefits like the ability to utilize storage facilities in farmhouses so that crop could be stocked with the possibility of a future rise in prices. The stored materials from the farmhouse could then be sold in the market at a higher profit. Mechanisation of agriculture has led to considerable savings in time and labour and increased productivity and efficiency in cultivation. Added to this, the access to roads has provided better and quicker transport facilities for the produce to be carried to the markets. Speedy movement of raw materials, fertilizers and other essentials have increased the margin of profits which boosted the agriculture industry. Better access through road development and warehousing facilities has made large scale agricultural production possible. In addition, it has generated avenues for growth of certain activities allied to agriculture, like chemicals and pesticides industry which are important for agriculture. The development of roads has connected Yorkshire to other parts of the country in terms of surface transportation and this has led to better and scientific exposure of latest techniques, optimization of the use of inputs and other relevant technology which were not present in year 1956. Farm produce like vegetables and fruits could be quickly transported to other places without fear of loss due to decay and deterioration of quality during storage. Also, there may be price variations of products in market, and produce may be expeditiously sent to destinations in order to avoid losses due to market fluctuations. The negative aspects of this may be that due to intensification, soil erosion may take place, and this may affect future yields. Also, the use of surface transport facilities involves fuel costs which may increase the final cost of produce. Further, there is a question of its ill effects on the flora and fauna of the region due to encroachment on their natural habitat. Nevertheless, the development of roads which are accessible to road transport has added a new dimension to changes that have taken place in Yorkshire during the last fifty years and has contributed to the economic progress of this county. Effects on Biodiversity: Over the past 50 years, agricultural practices have transformed dramatically and these changes have resulted in the disappearance of a large number of organisms. Changes in farming methods have affected biodiversity in a variety of ways. As regards farming, mixed agriculture has lost its importance, farming has become intensified and farms have become specialised. The changes have also reflected in the field sizes in terms of their increase to considerable sizes. Pastoral and arable lands have become two distinct categories. Since most part of the geographical area of Yorkshire is agricultural lands, all these changes have drastically affected the bio-diversity of Yorkshire. Human activities usually cause a lot of distress for biological and ecological balance of earth. Intensified agricultural activities especially cause problems to plants and animals as they involve large scale reshaping of land, use of chemicals etc apart from concerns like deforestation. The major casualties are invertebrates, farm birds and mammals. Some of the invertebrate groups have become very rare and some of them have disappeared due to changing farming techniques. “It has a negative impact on butterflies and orthopetra as they suffer from loss of unimproved pasture. Moreover, in more intensively managed fields the insect diversity is lower.” (Krebs, et al: 1999) Ground beetle is one of the arthropods found in the farmlands in Yorkshire. “They are very useful in pest control and are major food sources for farmland birds.” (Holland, J.M and Luff, M.L: 2000). They are very sensitive to changes in agricultural practices. Therefore, livestock grazing and pesticide application can become a serious threat to their existence. Bio-energy crops also can have a major impact on invertebrate communities. “The use of insecticides or herbicides can cause changes in bio-diversity.” (Anderson, et al. 2004). Increased use of insecticides and herbicides results in reduction of insect population, its food and cover; whereas a reduced use of insecticides and herbicides could lead to greater insect numbers and diversity. Reshaping or modification of the land, or other agricultural activity can also cause damage to the invertebrate population. For example, Diptera larvae are highly sensible to tillage. It reduces its population. Soil cultivation also negatively affects spiders, moths, hemiptera, and symphyta. Increased use of pesticides has resulted disappearance of a number of invertebrates by toxicity, by changing habitat and by restricting food supply. Increased use of insecticides has also adversely affected the biodiversity. Grazing and tillage are detrimental to spiders and intense grazing could lead to its virtual extinction. Grassland intensification can reduce butterfly population. Ploughing and re-seeding of agricultural grasslands also reduces abundance of ants in the farmland. “There are strong evidences that which indicate considerable decline in farmland bird species population because of the agricultural intensification.” (Fuller and Gough. 1999). Some of the causes for the decline of the bird population are increased pesticide use, mechanization, intensive farming, declination in spring sowing, and high levels of chemical fertilization. Decrease in crop diversity and intensification of agriculture may affect habitat use by mammals. It is believed that “intensively managed farmlands provide few resources for small mammals”. (Bence, et al. 2003). The population of brown hare has decreased due to loss of crop diversity and less availability of food for these animals in spring and summer months. Destruction of foliage clusters could considerably become risky to these rabbits because they get exposed to various threats apart from depriving them of sources of food and cover. But mammal populations are benefited by increased cultivation of some energy crops such as willow coppice and miscanthus. Areas cultivated by energy crops provide food resources and better shelter for small mammals. Conclusions During the Second World War, Britain was forced to increase production as imports from United States became difficult. The result was the enactment of the Agricultural Act 1947 which intended to achieve self sufficiency in food production. Government introduced several measures for helping farmers and increasing production. Once government was ensured, the farmers had no hesitation in making heavy investments in agriculture and resorted to increased use of mechanization. Use of machine in farmlands required very heavy capital investment and which was not very profitable in small farm land. This necessitated a large scale conversion of small holdings into large farmlands which resulted a drastic increase in output. In Yorkshire, over period of 50 years, the field size has increased significantly which in turn increased mean field size too. Farmlands and accessibility to roads have played a considerable role in the above mentioned changes in Yorkshire. The concept of building a farmhouse within farmland itself facilitated effective management of farms and thus resulted in better supervision and reduced expenditure. Roads which offered better accessibility to farms ensured a high level of efficiency and were very helpful in minimizing costs. Though intensive farming and mechanization drastically increased output, it has negative consequences on biodiversity as large numbers of species have disappeared. Works Cited Agriculture in post war Britain: Available from: http://www.ecifm.rdg.ac.uk/postwarag.htm Accessed on 24th Jan 2007 Soil Association Food and Farming: Available from: http://www.soilassociation.org/web/sa/psweb.nsf/A5/yorkshire.html Accessed on 23rd Jan 2007 Robert A Robinson, William J Sutherland (2002) Post-war changes in arable farming and biodiversity in Great Britain Journal of Applied Ecology 39 (1), 157–176. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2664.2002.00695.x Krebs, J.R., Wilson, J.D. Bradbury, R.B. and Siriwardena, G.M. (1999). The second Silent Spring? Nature, 400, 611-612. Holland, J.M. & Luff, M.L. (2000). The Effects of Agricultural Practices on Carabidae in Temperate Agro-ecosystems. Integrated Pest Management Reviews, 5, 109-129. Anderson, G.Q.A., Haskins, L. R. and Nelson, S. H. (2004). The Effects of Bio-energy Crops on Farmland Birds in the UK: a Review of Current Knowledge and Future Predictions. Biomass and Agriculture: sustainability, markets and policies. (eds. K. Parris & T. Poincet), pp. 199-218. Paris: OECD. Fuller, R.J. and Gough, S. J. (1999). Changes in Sheep Numbers in Britain: Implications for Bird Populations. Biological Conservation, 91, pp. 73-89. Bence, S.L., Stander, K. & Griffiths, M. (2003). Habitat Characteristics of Harvest Mouse Nests on Arable Farmland. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 99, 179-186. Read More