TABLE 1: AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS BY FARM TYPE, SIZE AND COUNTRY 2006 SOURCE: DEFRA STATISTICS At June of each year England
Total under 1 SLR 1 to under 2 SLR 2 to under 3 SLR 3 to under 5 SLR 5 SLRs and over Total
Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
Number of holdings (thousand)
Percent of total SLR
Number of holdings (thousand)
Percent of total SLR
Number of holdings (thousand)
Percent of total SLR
Number of holdings (thousand)
Percent of total SLR
150.8 24.4 10.7 8.7 5.7 200.3
16.2 18.7 14.3 18.1 32.7 100.0
26.7 4.0 2.6 2.5 1.7 37.4
12.2 14.4 15.9 23.9 33.6 100.0
40.8 3.7 2.3 2.6 2.0 51.4
13.2 12.5 12.9 23.4 38.1 100.0
20.3 3.7 1.4 1.0 0.4 26.8
31.0 23.3 15.6 16.5 13.5 100.0
Number of holdings (thousand)
Hectares (thousand)
Number of holdings (thousand)
Hectares (thousand)
Number of holdings (thousand)
Hectares (thousand)
Number of holdings (thousand)
Hectares (thousand)
124.2 27.7 21.8 26.7 200.4
529.7 916.2 1 563.0 6 319.8 9 328.6
21.4 6.8 5.2 4.1 37.4
108.9 226.2 370.2 794.2 1 499.6
29.9 6.3 5.5 9.2 51.0
156.3 208.8 398.9 4 846.7 5 610.7
11.3 9.2 4.4 1.8 26.7
115.1 298.4 305.3 309.7 1 028.5
Total area on holdings Under 20 hectares 20 to under 50 hectares 50 to under 100 hectares 100 hectares and over Total
The data in this includes main and minor holdings in Great Britain. In Northern Ireland all active farm businesses are included. (a) Standard Labour Requirements (SLRs) are representative of labour requirements (hours per-head or hours per hectare) under typical conditions for enterprises of average size and performance
CAP does not fit the UK
In 2002, the UK Food Group published a paper The Cap doesn’t Fit that critiqued the CAP before the 2003 reforms. They noted then that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) does not deliver the European Union’s broader objectives for food and farming. As noted in the report of the UK Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food, the CAP does not provide good value for money for European consumers or taxpayers. In terms of protecting the environment, animal welfare or even rural farming communities in Europe, the CAP fails to provide the right support structure – if any – or exacerbates problems caused by technological advances and market pressures. There is strong and mounting pressure in several European Member States, including the UK, for radical CAP reform. However, CAP reform alone will not solve all the problems of the food system. Sustainable food production depends on far more than agricultural policy reform and it is essential that policy makers also examine and address the role of other parts of the food chain eg the agri-chemical, food manufacturing and retail industries, and the role of other policies (such as health, environmental, tourism, services, intellectual property rights, investment, and competition) on agriculture. These issues are still on the table but exacerbated by new government policy. Since 2003, there have been dramatic changes in subsidy arrangements with nearly all subsidy directed either to major off-farm enterprises or to decoupled single farm payments and Pillar 2 agri-environment schemes. There has been significant delay in payments – some for more than a year – which has added to farm bankruptcies and farmer suicides. Further analysis of this change in payments can be found below.
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