Farming

Agriculture’s intensive, highly mechanized & efficient by E/p standards, producing 60 % of the UK’s food needs.

Still, they can’t keep up with the demands of growing population.

Farming products make up 0,6 % of the GDP (under 1 %)

Different types of farming occur in different regions of Britain. This is due to the influence of relief, climate (especially precipitation & temperature), soil type & closeness to the market.

Upland areas generally lend themselves to sheep farming, flat areas – to crop production, & wet/warm areas – to milk & beef production.

Types of farming:

- arable (пахотное) – growing crops & cereals.

- pastoral) – rearing & production of animals(выгон, выпас скота

- mixed farming (combination of arable & pastoral)

- market gardening (production of fruit & vegetables)

Around 2/3 of production is devoted to livestock, 1/3 – to arable crops.

Principle crops:

- wheat (the most widely grown arable crop in the UK)

- barley (ячмень)

- oats (овес)

- potatoes

- sugar beet (the UK’s the 5^th largest producer of sugar beet)

- vegetables

- oil seed rape (масляный рапс)

- fruit & berries (“strawberry fields foreva”, April to November)

UK’s the fourth largest producer of cereal & oilseed crops (масличные культуры) in the EU (after France, Germany, Poland) accounting for about 8 % of total EU production.