Land use (part 1)

how many hectares is UK land area?

approximately 24.1590 million

what was the utilised agricultural area in 2024?

16.8 million hectares

what % of total land area in the UK was utilised agricultural area in 2024?

69%, 1.5% lower than in 2023

how many hectares is 1km²

100ha

how many hectares is 10,000m²?

1ha

how many km² is 1,000,000m²?

1km²

how many acres is 1ha?

2.471ac

what do contractors charge in?

hours per acre/hectare

what unit is commonly used to measure land in the UK and US?

acre

what unit is used to measure land in New Zealand?

hectares

during the middles ages, what was acre defined as?

the amount of land plough able in 1 day by a man or horse

How many holdings are there under 20 hectares? (in 2016 and in 2021)

2016 - 101

2021 - 105

How many holdings are there with an area of 100 hectares of over? (in 2016 and 2021)

2016 - 41

2021 - 41

where are there the most and least total number of holdings in the UK and how many are there? (in June 2021)

most - England with 105(000)

least - Northern Ireland with 26(000)

where are there the most and least total number of holdings in the UK and how many are there? (in June 2017)

most - England with 106(000)

least - Northern Ireland with 25(000)

how has the median age of holders’ changed from 2005 to 2016?

2005 - 58

2016 - 60

the median age has increased

what is land cover often used for?

agri-environment schemes, wildlife conservation and urban land use planning

what 2 ways is land classified?

based on the land cover and based on the land use

what are examples of what’s classified based on the land cover?

• crops,

• grass,

• forest,

• bare land,

• shrub land,

• wetland,

• urban,

• water.

what are examples of classification based on land use?

• agriculture,

• forestry,

• recreation,

• residential,

• mining,

• industry,

• transport,

• construction,

• commerce,

• services.

how many hectares does forest cover in the UK?

about 3million ha, equating to 13%

how many hectares of land is agriculture in the UK?

about 17million ha, equating to 71%

how many hectares of land is urban and other in the UK?

about 3.5million hectares, equating to 16%

what percentage of land isn’t classified in the UK?

7%

what % of land in the UK is freshwater?

1%

what % of land in the UK is marine and coastal?

2%

in 2021, how many farm holdings made up the UK agriculture industry?

216000

what does utilised agricultural area (UAA) include?

arable and horticultural crops,

uncropped arable land,

land for outdoor pigs,

temporary and permanent grassland,

common rough grazing,

what does total croppable area consist of?

cereals, oilseed, potatoes, other arable crops, horticultural crops, uncropped arable land, temporary grass

how much agricultural land was used to grow crops for bioenergy in 2020?

121000 hectares, representing just under 2.1% of UK arable land

what is permanent grassland?

grassland that hasn’t been sown in the last 5 years

what’s the % of total permanent grassland in the UK in 2023?

57%

what are land use categories defined for?

a purpose

what % of utilised agricultural land in the UK in 2023 was used for common rough grazing?

7%

what % of utilised agricultural land in the UK in 2023 was used for temporary grass?

7.4%

what is Copernicus?

a European programme for monitoring the Earth

How does Copernicus monitor the earth?

data is collected by earth observation satellites and combined with observation data from sensor networks on the earth’s surface

what % of the UK is pasture land?

29%

what % of the UK is non-irrigated arable land?

just over 27%

what has happened to the % of utilised agricultural area as a proportion of total UK area from 1984 to 2019?

it has been in decline but the range isn’t large

what is the % of agricultural land in the UK, compared to other countries?

62%, which is on the higher proportion of total land in agriculture

what do countries with lower woodland and shrubland usually have?

a higher % of land for agricultural use

what countries have more forestry and less agriculture?

Slovenia, Sweden and Finland

what is the dominant crop?

cereals, at 63% of crop land use

what was the total amount of hectares of land used for crops?

4.48 million ha

when was barley dominant until?

wheat breeding advanced

what was needed to be done from 1992 onwards?

to control surpluses - exports and changes in payment