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Policy instruments that integrate the actions of multiple farmers are of growing interest for improving landscape scale environmental sustainability of agriculture. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with farmers in south-east England and applied thematic analysis to the responses to perform a qualitative investigation into the combined role of economic, social, and cultural barriers to cooperative environmental management, and identify possible solutions for these barriers. Interviewees recognised environmental benefits of cooperative management, but this was a low priority compared to other management activities, being seen as complex and time-consuming, with uncertainty over direct benefits to participants. External coordination could address this by overseeing information sharing on cooperation benefits and minimising the logistical burden for participants, but given farmer mistrust of outside intervention, these projects will be more successful when collaborating farmers feel they are in control. The efforts of both pioneering farmers able to initiate projects with their peers, and respected facilitators who embody local knowledge and experience, will be vital for balancing coordination and collaboration. Finding the optimal balance between these different elements will vary with local circumstances: policy should have the flexibility to accommodate this. Farmers were wary of connecting with others possessing different farming ideals and thus having to compromise on their management approach. Some respondents sought to bridge these gaps by focusing on aspects of farming identities they shared with their peers, raising the possibility that support targeting these individuals will help develop relationships that foster lasting cultural change for farmer cooperative environmental management., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The use of plastics in agriculture and in fisheries has been vital to increase food production and meet the demands of an increasingly growing global population. However, there are several drawbacks to the use of plastics in these industries. Most plastics used in agriculture are disposed of after one single use and are highly susceptible to weathering. Abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear cause considerable damage to marine life. Quantification of plastic waste generation in these industries is scarce or non-existent in the case of fisheries. In this paper, we estimate the amount of plastic waste generated by agriculture and fisheries at a regional scale, considering the South West of the UK as a case study. We followed a mass balance approach to quantify the potential plastic waste generated by these industries. We find a generation of 49 kt of plastic waste in agriculture, 47% of which has an unknown fate. We estimate 454 t/year of fishing gear waste, with unclear end-of-life pathways. A detailed quantitative understanding of plastic waste generation per sector at a regional scale is fundamental for tracking plastic waste flows, locating hotspots of pollution, and planning actions to reduce the amount of plastic waste along the chain of end-users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we investigate the "Young Farmer Problem" in Europe with a specific focus on how it applies in England. The paper is intended as a discussion paper and represents a forerunner to a more comprehensive study of the raw Farm Business Survey data conducted through a Phd. Recent reforms of the European Union's (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have specifically targeted young farmers for increased support; with young farmers being seen as more innovative, entrepreneurial and amenable to change. Furthermore, the EU has stated that the "generational renewal" of agriculture is critical for the long term viability of the sector. This paper investigates the business performance and entrepreneurial behaviour of younger farmers in England through empirical analysis of Farm Business Survey (FBS) data, and finds some evidence to support the notion of higher levels of performance among younger farmers. Farmers in the 35 - <45 years age group showed consistently higher levels of overall productivity, profitability and investment. Additionally, the results show that younger farmers demonstrate consistently higher levels of engagement with agri-environment schemes. This study concurs with the findings of Zagata and Sutherland (2015) in the need to improve targeting on the basis of age specifically in order to isolate the under 40 age group which is the focus of European policy and in the need to separate new entrants from inheritors in the assessment of young farmers; an objective which necessitates the analysis of raw data and the conduction of original research within the topic area. This paper and, importantly, the original research which will be conducted through the accompanying Phd will address the fifth research objective of the Research platform proposed by Zagata and Sutherland (2015) to test the characterisation of young people and new entrants tofarming, as entrepreneurial innovators sympathetic to and amenable with the goals of the CAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture has a hugely important role to play in meeting many of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Ensuring the economic resilience of farms and improving their capacity to respond to a wide range of challenges is key if agriculture is to contribute positively to achieving SDGs and sustainable growth. This paper aims to calculate the economic vulnerability and resilience of agriculture in England and Wales (UK), by analysing individual farm business data and using it to compute an aggregated agricultural resilience index at regional level across the two countries. The results of our analysis are visualised as maps, showing the geographical distribution of the input indicators and the final composite resilience index. We argue that this type of spatio-economic approach is useful for understanding the geography of agricultural resilience at sub-national levels, which could be valuable for helping to inform decisions and formulate strategies for promoting sustainable agriculture.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Diversification has been identified as a common response to the agricultural crisis of the 1980s and to the changing ethos of agricultural policy in the closing decade of the twentieth century. In particular, farmers operating large-scale farms have been prominent in adopting this approach, just as they were innovative across a range of farming practices in the expansion and modernisation of their agricultural production in earlier decades. Can we identify serial diversifiers within this sector of the farming community, who are disposed to react in an entrepreneurial fashion to the changing fortunes of agriculture? The paper draws on results from a survey of large-scale commercial farmers in South East England and, by examining the sequence in which various forms of diversification were adopted, identifies a temporal pattern as farmers responded to the fluctuating fortunes of the agricultural industry over the past thirty years. But has the potential for diversification been exhausted? The paper also considers future prospects for diversification within the large-scale, commercially oriented sector of the agricultural industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthworms are primary candidates for national soil health monitoring as they are ecosystem engineers that benefit both food production and ecosystem services associated with soil security. Supporting farmers to monitor soil health could help to achieve the policy aspiration of sustainable soils by 2030 in England; however, little is known about how to overcome participation barriers, appropriate methodologies (practical, cost-effective, usefulness) or training needs. This paper presents the results from a pilot #60minworms study which mobilised farmers to assess over >1300 ha farmland soils in spring 2018. The results interpretation framework is based on the presence of earthworms from each of the three ecological groups at each observation (20 x 20 cm x 20 cm pit) and spatially across a field (10 soil pits). Results showed that most fields have basic earthworm presence and abundance, but 42% fields may be over-worked as indicated by absence/rarity of epigeic and/or anecic earthworms. Tillage had a negative impact (p < 0.05) on earthworm populations and organic matter management did not mitigate tillage impacts. In terms of farmer participation, Twitter and Farmers Weekly magazine were highly effective channels for recruitment. Direct feedback from participants included excellent scores in trust, value and satisfaction of the protocol (e.g. 100% would do the test again) and 57% would use their worm survey results to change their soil management practices. A key training need in terms of earthworm identification skills was reported. The trade-off between data quality, participation rates and fieldwork costs suggests there is potential to streamline the protocol further to #30minworms (5 pits), incurring farmer fieldwork costs of approximately £1.48 ha-1. At national scales, £14 million pounds across 4.7 M ha-1 in fieldwork costs per survey could be saved by farmer participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about several papers discussed at the Easter Meeting of the British Ecological Society held in Burlington House in London, England on April 7-8, 1952 is presented. Topics include the impact of rabbit to the agriculture in West Wales discussed by Prof. A. N. Worden and Ms. Winifred M. Phillips, the physiology of plants and plant ecology. Furthermore, the meeting was headed by Dr. C. B. Williams, president of the society and was attended by nearly one hundred members.

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This paper characterises current rewilding activities in the UK, through the analysis of 66 rewilding projects. Project information was obtained from online data (65 %), and direct mail data requests (35 %). The analyses showed an exponential growth in the number of new rewilding projects since 2010, with 8 % of projects started prior to 2000, and 60 % initiated after 2010. Seventy-three percent of projects involved rewilding areas of less than 1000 ha, 17 % being between 1000 and 10,000 ha, and 9 % greater than 10,000 ha. In Scotland, 80 % of the area being rewilded involved mountain, heath and bog habitats. For England the largest rewilded areas (58 %) were semi-natural or improved grasslands. Fifty-six percent of sites were formerly used for livestock farming, and 24 % for arable cultivation. A total of 72 % of sites employed tree planting, 64 % introduced herbivores, and 33 % introduced non-herbivores. The removal of sheep and cattle took place in 51 % of projects, with deer control in 33 %, wetland creation in 39 %, and the removal of artificial drainage in 36 % of projects. There was a close geographical proximity between rewilding sites and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), with 69 % of areas being within 4 km, and only two sites greater than 8 km. Twelve project funding sources were recorded, and most projects utilised multiple funding sources. The benefits of an evidence-led and nationally co-ordinated rewilding approach were identified in relation to using well-established decision tools and frameworks to enhance future rewilding spatial planning. This would allow the development of a map of 'appropriate' rewilding areas, based on landscape scale characteristics, national species and habitat priorities, and predicted future landscape changes. Importantly, these 'target' areas would also be sensitive to local social, economic and agricultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing soil nutrient degradation and global warming requires novel solutions. Enhanced weathering using crushed basalt rock is a promising dual-action strategy that can enhance soil health and sequester carbon dioxide. This study examines the short-term effects of basalt amendment on spring oat (Avena sativa L.) during the 2022 growing season in NE England. The experimental design consisted of four blocks with control and basalt-amended plots, and two cultivation types within each treatment, laid out in a split plot design. Basalt (18.86 tonnes ha−1) was incorporated into the soil during seeding. Tissue, grain and soil samples were collected for yield, nutrient, and pH analysis. Basalt amendment led to significantly higher yields, averaging 20.5% and 9.3% increases in direct drill and ploughed plots, respectively. Soil pH was significantly higher 256 days after rock application across cultivation types (direct drill: on average 6.47 vs. 6.76 and ploughed: on average 6.69 vs. 6.89, for control and basalt-amended plots, respectively), likely due to rapidly dissolving minerals in the applied basalt, such as calcite. Indications of growing season differences in soil pH are observed through direct measurement of lower manganese and iron uptake in plants grown on basalt-amended soil. Higher grain and tissue potassium, and tissue calcium uptake were observed in basalt-treated crops. Notably, no accumulation of potentially toxic elements (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, nickel) was detected in the grain, indicating that crops grown using this basaltic feedstock are safe for consumption. This study indicates that basalt amendments can improve agronomic performance in sandy clay-loam agricultural soil under temperate climate conditions. These findings offer valuable insights for producers in temperate regions who are considering using such amendments, demonstrating the potential for improved crop yields and environmental benefits while ensuring crop safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses several papers on the economic history of England. In the journal "Sussex Archaeological Collections," P.F. Brandon discusses the fortunes of agriculture at Barnholme, Sussex, which was a home farm of Battle Abbey and included heavy uplands and exposed marshlands both much affected by weather conditions. His documentation is largely for the period after the Black Death and his verdict on the farming techniques practiced there is generally favorable. Two more articles are concerned with problems on a larger scale. In a fascinating attempt to explain the background to the astonishing parliament of 1386 and its attack on the king, J.J.N. Palmer reconstructs the business of the previous parliament, the official records of which are lamentably unrevealing. C.S. Cattel's paper "An Evaluation of the Loseley List of Ironworks Within the Weald in the Year 1588," suggests that iron making was fairly stagnant ill the first part of Elizabeth's reign. In an interesting paper on the "Genesis and Structure of the Foley "Ironworks in Partnership" of 1692," R.G. Schafer describes how the Foley brothers settled their personal rivalry by establishing a protean board of directors, creating a form of corporate entity which was not only unusual for its time but allowed the Foleys to control the charcoal iron industry well into the eighteenth century.

Recent decades have seen the emergence and increasing prominence of a range of public and private sector providers of agricultural information and advice, owing to state transition away from direct provision of agricultural advisory services. In this paper, we evaluate the establishment of trust in agri-environmental agricultural advisory services in England. Qualitative field research was undertaken with farmers, advisors and promoters engaged in four contrasting agri-environmental advisory initiatives. Findings suggest that longevity and expertise in service provision are more important than the public, private or charitable status of specific advisory service in engendering trust. Consistent funding allocated to well-known agencies or their affiliates is thus more likely influence farmer behaviour in the short term than 'contract' advisory projects awarded to novice service providers. Study participants also put their trust in services that were perceived as 'impartial' or actively 'pro-agriculture'. However, we suggest this 'pro-farmer' orientation can negatively impact on environmental outcomes: advisors may be incentivised to provide information on the easiest access to agri-environmental grants, rather than the actions with the most environmental benefit., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In many river floodplains in the UK, there has been a long history of flood defence, land reclamation and water regime management for farming. In recent years, however, changing European and national policies with respect to farming, environment and flood management are encouraging a re-appraisal of land use in rural areas. In particular, there is scope to develop, through the use of appropriate promotional mechanisms, washland areas, which will simultaneously accommodate winter inundation, support extensive farming methods, deliver environmental benefits, and do this in a way which can underpin the rural economy. This paper explores the likely economic impacts of the development of flood storage and washland creation. In doing so, consideration is given to feasibility of this type of development, the environmental implications for a variety of habitats and species, and the financial and institutional mechanisms required to achieve implementation.

This paper explores whether the introduction of an agri-environmental scheme has altered the course of long-term trends in plant species abundance in the Somerset Levels and Moors Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA), UK. A semi-quantitative approach has been taken which integrates disparate but important historical datasets relating to flora and land management with more contemporary digital information. Species datasets from four time periods throughout the 20th century have been collated within a Geographic Information System and analysed with respect to ancillary data relating to elevation, under-drainage and ESA designation. Qualitative reconstruction of the historical ecology of this internationally important area of lowland wet grassland showed that a steady decline in abundance and extent of key components of the flora had already started by 1900. Analysis of historical under-drainage records dating from 1940s to 1980s showed a clear link between the length of time an area had been under-drained and the subsequent diversity of flora recorded in later surveys. In addition, the relative persistence of the rarer components of the wetland flora between surveys in 1980 and 1997 was related to the spatial pattern of under-drainage on the site since 1940. When overall species diversity was compared before and after ESA designation (1980-1997) there was some evidence of an increase in the number of species present and their spatial extent. The historical dataset provided useful contextual information with respect to species trends and allowed the interpretation of contemporary datasets to be placed within a longer timeframe. This pilot study using 18 species gives some evidence that long-established trends in species decline in the Somerset Levels and Moors ESA are starting to be reversed.

Phosphorus (P) surface run-off losses were studied following organic manure applications to land, utilising a purpose-built facility on a sloping site in Herefordshire under arable tillage. Different rates and timing of cattle slurry, farm yard manure (FYM) and inorganic nitrogen (N) and P fertiliser were compared, over a 4-year period (1993-97). N losses from the same studies are reported in a separate paper. The application of cattle FYM and, especially slurry, to the silty clay loam soil increased both particulate and soluble P loss in surface water flow. Losses via subsurface flow (30 cm interflow) were consistently much lower than via surface water movement and were generally unaffected by treatment. Increased application of slurry solids increased all forms of P loss via surface run-off; the results suggested that a threshold for greatly increased risk of P losses via this route, as for N, occurred at ca. 2.5-3.0 t/ha solids loading. This approximates to the 50 m3/ha application rate limit suggested for slurry within UK 'good agricultural practice'. The studies also provided circumstantial evidence of the sealing of the soil surface by slurry solids as the major mechanism by which polluting surface run-off may occur following slurry application on susceptible soils. Losses of total and soluble P, recorded for each of the 4 years of experiments, reached a maximum of only up to 2 kg/ha total P (TP), even after slurry applications initiating run-off. Whilst these losses are insignificant in agronomic terms, peak concentrations of P (up to 30,000 micrograms/l TP) in surface water during a run-off event, could be of considerable concern in sensitive catchments. Losses of slurry P via surface run-off could make a significant contribution to accelerated eutrophication on entry to enclosed waters, particularly when combined with high concentrations of NO3(-)-N. Restricting slurry application rates to those consistent with good agronomic practice, and within the limits specified in existing guidelines on good agricultural practice, offers the simplest and most effective control measure against this potentially important source of diffuse pollution.

Research was conducted on nitrogen (N) surface run-off losses following organic manure applications to land, utilising a purpose-built facility on a sloping site in Herefordshire under arable tillage. Different rates and timing of cattle slurry, farmyard manure and inorganic N and phosphorus (P) fertiliser were compared, over a 4-year period (1993-97). P losses from the same studies are reported in a separate paper. The application of cattle slurries to the silty clay loam soil increased the loss of solids and NH4(+)-N in surface water flow compared to control plots receiving inorganic fertiliser only, or no treatment, but had little effect on NO3(-)-N losses by this route. Results were consistent with other observations that rainfall events immediately after manure applications are particularly likely to be associated with nutrient run-off losses. Losses via subsurface flow (30 cm interflow) were consistently much lower than via surface water movement and were generally unaffected by treatment. Increasing slurry application rate and, in particular, slurry solids loading, increased solids and NH4(-)-N losses via surface run-off. The threshold, above which the risk of losses via surface run-off appeared to be greatly increased, was ca. 2.5-3.0 t/ha slurry solids, which approximates to the 50 m3/ha limit suggested for slurry within UK 'good agricultural practice'. Sealing of the soil surface by slurry solids appears to be a possible mechanism by which polluting surface run-off may occur following slurry application on susceptible soils. Total losses of NH4(+)-N and NO3(-)-N during the 4-year monitoring period were insignificant in agronomic terms, but average soluble N concentrations (NH4(+)-N + NO3(-)-N) in run-off, ranging from ca. 2.0 mg/l, up to 14.0 mg/l for the higher rate slurry treatments. Peak concentrations of NH4(+)-N > 30 mg/l, are such as to be of concern in sensitive catchments, in terms of the potential for contribution to accelerated eutrophication and adverse effects on freshwater biota.

The use of salt marsh for agricultural use has probably been going on for thousands of years. This paper will look at the situation in southeast England, particularly the Wash. Here enclosure for extended grazing and over the last several hundred years, for arable cultivation, may have taken place since Roman Times. An enclosure of Freiston Shore salt marsh (1979) and a proposed further enclosure at Gedney Drove End at about the same time raised concerns about the cumulative effect of these developments on nature conservation interests. These concerns prompted the nature conservation agencies to oppose the Gedney Drove End enclosure. Though the conservation argument did not persuade the Government that no further enclosure should take place, economic circumstances changed such that the pressure for the creation of new agricultural land diminished. This marked the end of 'reclamation' in the Wash. Since then, in the UK at least, there have been no further enclosures of salt marsh for agriculture. What were the arguments that lead to this change? Up to this point the perceived wisdom, in the Wash at least, was that as enclosure took place new inter-tidal land was created to seaward -- with no net loss of inter-tidal land. Today we accept that this is not the case and a policy of managed re-alignment has increasingly been adopted in England, at sites ranging from the Porlock shingle ridge in north Devon to the salt marshes of Freiston in the Wash. It is argued that recognition of 'coastal squeeze' probably began in the Wash some 20 years ago. It would appear that we are now witnessing a reversal of this trend. How far will it take us? Will we see a return of the large expanses of tidal swamp around the Wash and elsewhere along the southern North Sea coast? Is this an inevitable consequence of global warming? This paper provides an historical perspective of the issues and arguments that have led us to recognize 'coastal squeeze' and the importance of dynamic coasts,... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of conservation science is based upon determining the use by organisms of different resources. However, the field data used to construct habitat association models generally come from a small number of sites covering a fraction of the area of interest. It is important therefore to assess the generality of those models for species occurring over large geographical areas. In this paper we test the generality of models describing skylark Alauda arvensis abundance across farmland in southern England in relation to crop type, crop structure and field structure (i.e. height of surrounding boundaries). Skylarks responded to most predictors we measured in similar ways across three regions of differing farming practices (arable-dominated, pasture-dominated and a mixture of the two). Most of the regional differences in habitat associations could be related to differences in the speed of crop development. For example, the sowing of cereals in spring, a much lauded strategy to increase skylark populations, is likely to have less of an effect in regions where cereal development is slow than in regions where it is fast. Most studies that explicitly test the performance of a model developed in one place elsewhere use presence/absence models. We adopt a more sensitive and novel approach by using counts. We found regression equations developed in one region performed poorly when tested as a direct predictor (i.e. a 1:1 relationship) on data from other regions. However, the skylark territories observed in any one region were positively correlated with the territory numbers predicted by models built using data from other regions, so models were good predictors of relative abundance. The results suggest that, for this species at least, conservationists should have confidence when advocating management strategies based upon habitat-association models and extrapolating their generality to other areas. However, our results warn against using regression equations developed in one place to make absolute quantitative predictions elsewhere. Decision-makers should beware of using models in this way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have suggested that the offspring of men potentially exposed to pesticides at work may be at increased risk of kidney cancer (Wilms' tumour), brain tumours, Ewing's bone sarcoma and acute leukaemia. This paper examines the association between potential occupational exposure of fathers to pesticides and offspring's death from cancer in a large national database. Records for 167703 childhood deaths occurring during 1959-63, 1970-78 and 1979-90 in England and Wales have been analysed. Among the offspring of men with potential occupational exposure to pesticides there were 5270 deaths, of which 449 were due to cancer. Associations were assessed using proportional mortality ratios (PMRs), with adjustment for age, year of death and paternal social class. Of the childhood cancers previously linked with potential paternal occupational exposure to pesticides, the only statistically significant excess was for kidney cancer (PMR=1.59, 95% CI=1.18-2.15, based on 42 deaths). Although these results offer some support for the suggestion that paternal occupational exposure to pesticides may be related to the subsequent development of kidney cancer in offspring, other explanations cannot be excluded. In the light of the findings presented here and elsewhere, further, more detailed, research into the nature of this relationship is warranted.

There is a considerable literature concerning the forces responsible for the expansion of industrial output in England during the eighteenth century. A particularly interesting debate has arisen, however, regarding the effect of the fall in grain prices (the "Agricultural Depression") which occurred in England during the period from 1730 to 1750. This period was characterized by a series of unusually abundant harvests which resulted from favorable weather conditions;[2] consequently, while the aggregate price level remained roughly constant over the period (Gilboy, 1936; Schumpeter, 1938), the price of corn products fell by approximately 15 to 20 per cent relative to the price which prevailed from 1720 to 1729 (Beveridge, 1939; Rogers, 1902; Tooke and Newmarch, 1928; Ashton, 1955, p. 239; Deane and Cole, 1964, p. 9I; Mitchell, 1962, pp. 486-487).8 A. H. John (1961, 1965), among others (Ashton, 1965, ch. 2), has argued that the lower grain prices implied a higher real income for consumers of these commodities, and therefore led to an expansion of industrial demand. Conversely, G. E. Mingay (1956), among others (Chambers, 1956, pp. 42-46; Habakkuk, 1956; Deane and Cole, 1964, p. 90), has argued that the lower agricultural prices caused widespread depression in the agricultural sector which, owing to its quantitative importance, implied a country-wide downswing. The purpose of this paper is to show that the historical evidence cited by John and Mingay has economic implications that differ from those drawn by either author. Furthermore, reformulating the issue, we hope to construct a tolerably accurate estimate of the effects that the "Depression" could have exerted on industrial demand over the period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the question of how medieval England was supplied with working horses. It uses a national sample of over 300 manorial accounts from c.1300 to assess the role of demesnes in the production and distribution of these animals. It finds that demesnes were significant net consumers of horses, relying primarily upon the market for their supply. This illustrates that there was a well-established market for these animals by c.1300, but also that these large institutional farms did not breed enough horses to sustain their own demand, let alone a surplus that could have supplied the market. Demesne managers did, however, fill an important distributive role in the trade of agricultural horses by acting as 'middle men' in marshalling the various channels of work horse acquisition and dispersion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The underlying geology of Wiltshire was responsible for the county's contrasting farming and settlement patterns of the seventeenth century, and gave rise to its distinctive north--south 'chalk and cheese' divide. These particular characteristics, which also shaped the road networks and the location of the cloth-producing industry, played a significant role in determining the way in which the early Quaker movement developed within the county. This paper not only places the development of Wiltshire Quakerism within the context of the county's topography but also identifies the influence of other factors, such as patronage and the presence of other religious groups, on the settling of the network of Quakers' Meetings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the amplification of an aspect of commutation not fully considered by Eric Evans in his study of tithes and English agriculture, namely the implications for farm incomes of the method by which the commutation payments were calculated. Tithes, it was argued, were a disincentive to improvement because a significant proportion of any increase in output could be claimed by the tithe-owner. One other possible influence on farm incomes stemming from the use of the corn averages was the employment of a national price to determine local tithe payments. Evans suggests that this caused friction in South Wales where the market prices were much lower than the national ones and the effect of using the latter was to burden landowners with higher increases than in the rest of the country. Until the Commutation Act, payments had included incomes from non-cereals and this was reflected in the calculation of the initial tithe rent charge, but afterwards grain prices alone were the variable influencing payments.

The article presents a historical overview of the agricultural revolution and land ownership problems at Warwickshire, Great Britain in the eighteenth-century. When speaking of its soil and topography most writers have observed that Warwickshire is distinguished by "the quality of variety in a high degree" all placed within the confines of a fairly narrow compass. At the end of the seventeenth century the Arden, lying north and west of the county town, was a neighborhood of mixed light soils formerly wooded, where common fields had never been a significant feature of the organization of farming. To the south and east of the Arden lay the Feldon, itself an area of contrasts in soils and farming pursuits. Extending in an arc from Stratford in the southwest to Rugby in the northeast, the Avon formed a band of rich loamy soil three to four miles deep on either bank. Beyond the river valley the most significant feature of the east and southeast Feldon was the extensive tract of Lower Lias Clay, which stretched up to the marlstone of the Cotswold plateau.

The bishops of Winchester were the richest bishops in medieval England and they dominated landownership in Hampshire. Moreover, they left the fullest surviving documentation for any large estate in medieval England. This article uses a sample of the documentation to examine the agriculture of the great estate and some of the influences on it. By examining the lord's activity on a single well-documented manor it seeks to help our understanding of developments in Hampshire agriculture: its growth and contraction, its arable and pastoral farming, and the employment of its labour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Estimates of English income in Broadberry et al.’s British economic growth, 1270–1870 are founded upon a fourfold growth of farm output, and output per farm worker, over this interval. This article shows, using four separate tests, that farm output growth must have been much more limited. The tests are, first, whether in 1300 there was enough work at harvest to employ all the labour force; second, whether the value of output per worker in agriculture was greater than the annual earnings of workers; third, whether the implied relative outputs per acre of arable versus pasture were reasonable; and fourth, whether a much shorter medieval work year was possible. An alternative index of farm output consistent with the labour supply, wages, and farm rents is derived. This shows much less growth during the period 1270–1800. Overall economic growth in England during these years must consequently have been far less than Broadberry et al. estimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A development of the ecological risk screening (ERS) technique, scale intensity and consequence analysis (SICA), is described and application to the varied fisheries and ecosystem off the southwest of England on behalf of an industry steering group (SG) is summarized. The purpose was to prioritize ecological risks systematically and consistently in relation to policy goals agreed by the SG. Scientists listed and advised on ecosystem components, their units (individual species, stocks, habitats, or communities) and attributes, as well as agents of change in the SW, their activities, and generalized effects relevant to the policy goals. A working group (WG) of fishers, fishery observers, technical advisors, and marine scientists paired each unit with the activity thought most likely to impact the most sensitive policy goal, then scored risk according to defined rules spatially, temporally, and as intensity and duration of effects. The geometric mean of the four scores, slightly adjusted for unscored factors if necessary, was the relative impact score (RIS).With this standardized method, the main aspects of risk were considered separately and independently, thereby assisting objective prioritization. Nineteen unit--activity pairs were listed as priority risks (RIS .3) in the SW region during a 2-d meeting that fully exploited the wide range of information and experience available at the WG. Socio-economics was not considered. The ERS for the SW was designed to be compatible with other similar ERSs that might be carried out for neighbouring marine regions. ERS can minimize extra monitoring needed for ecosystem management and, in principle, collaborating non-fishery agents of change could be included. By engaging all stakeholders in the setting of initial priorities for action and by assembling all available sources of information, ERS offers a useful starting point for holistic ecosystem management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article challenges the growing consensus in the literature that medieval manorial managers were price responsive in their production decisions. Using prices of and acreages planted with wheat, barley, and oats on manors held by the bishop of Winchester from 1325 to 1370, price elasticities of supply are estimated for each grain in aggregate and on each particular manor. Aggregate price elasticities of supply for wheat, barley, and oats were rarely statistically significant and when significant were very low compared with elasticities estimated for developing and developed countries in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The low levels of agricultural supply response in fourteenth-century England suggest that commercialization was not as dominant in the medieval economy as has been argued. Thus, structural changes in the economy, such as the leasing of demesnes, the growth of wage labour, and the end of villeinage, may have been more important than price fluctuations in driving long-run economic change after the Black Death. Likewise, a shift from low price responsiveness to higher price responsiveness could have been an important part of the capitalist transformation of agriculture in the early modern period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the emergence of the first socioeconomic institution in history limiting fertility: west of a line from St. Petersburg to Trieste, the European Marriage Pattern (EMP) reduced childbirths by approximately one-third between the fourteenth and eighteenth century. To explain the rise of EMP we build a two-sector model of agricultural production-grain and livestock. Women have a comparative advantage in animal husbandry. After the Black Death in 1348-1350, land abundance triggered a shift toward the pastoral sector. This improved female employment prospects, leading to later marriages. Using detailed data from England, we provide strong evidence for our mechanism. (JEL J12, J13, J16, N33, N53, Q11) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the article "Adaptable and sustainable? Male farm service and the agricultural labour force in midland and southern England, c. 1850-1925," by A. Howkins and N. Verdon, which appeared in the periodical "Economic History Review."

Historians have documented rising farm sizes throughout the period 1450-1850. Existing studies have revealed much about the mechanisms underlying the development of agrarian capitalism. However, we currently lack any consensus as to when the critical developments occurred. This is largely due to the absence of sufficiently large and geographically wide-ranging datasets but is also attributable to conceptual weaknesses in much of the literature. This article develops a new approach to the problem and argues that agrarian capitalism was dominant in southern and eastern England by 1700 but that in northern England the critical developments came later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the uses made of common land in late sixteenth-century England by members of the landowning elite, focusing in particular on those who held manorial lordship. Other studies have focused on landlords’ efforts to enclose the commons, a process identified by some as a key element in the transition to capitalist farming. By contrast, this study shows that landlords made commercial use of common land, using it, for example, as a site on which to build new cottages or by putting large number of animals out to graze. As such, it suggests that the development of commercial farming and the exercise of common right were not mutually exclusive. Based on the evidence of equity court material relating to the Middlesex parish of Enfield, the article sheds light on the nature of relations between landlords and tenants and the strategies both groups adopted in their efforts to exploit and defend communal resources. When the two groups came into conflict, landlords had significant resources at their disposal with which to overcome opposition. Relations were, however, more complicated than this might imply. The politics of common right produced complex alliances based on shifting alignments of interest, and could unite or divide local society along both vertical and horizontal lines. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents an examination of the relationship between law and society in early modern Scotland and England in an effort to provide insight on patterns of economic development and social change in these societies. It explores the meaning of custom in Scotland and England and examines its application to property, production and law in both societies. It also examines the development of landholding and agrarian change in Scotland and explores differences in the development in law in Scotland and England between the 12th and 18th centuries.

In this article the author examines the changes to small medieval urban settlement in England and their conversion into rural communities with an agricultural economy. The author contends that these hamlets, often characterized as failed towns, were in fact robust agrarian settlements. The author considers these boroughs to be manorial zones where enterprise and craft production were valued. The article focuses on the town of Kineton in Warickshire, but also considers aspects of the communities of Alvechurch, Broadway, and Prestbury.

This article argues that historians have paid insufficient attention to the agrarian roots of early modern English famines. While not dismissing the insights arising from entitlements theory, the article takes issue with recent writings that have explained the famine of 1622-3 in north-west England as an entitlements crisis. It offers new empirical evidence from an estate in east Lancashire to demonstrate the scale of the crisis in the early 1620s, using estate accounts to produce new price data and estimates of productivity. On the basis of oat tithe data, the scale of the shortfall in foodstuffs in the harvest of 1621 is demonstrated as being probably in the region of a third; that of the following year has to be inferred from price data. The evidence shows that the crisis was not limited to the arable economy, but was followed by an extensive restocking of the pastoral economy. The article therefore makes a contribution to the growing interest in weather as an exogenous factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A combined semi-distributed hydrological model (CASCADE/QUESTOR) is used to evaluate the steady-state that may be achieved after changes in land-use or management and to explore what additional factors need to be considered in representing catchment processes. Two rural headwater catchments of the River Derwent (North Yorkshire, UK) were studied where significant change in land-use occurred in the 1990s and the early 2000s. Much larger increases in mean nitrate concentration (55%) were observed in the catchment with significant groundwater influence (Pickering Beck) compared with the surface water-dominated catchment (13% increase). The increases in Pickering Beck were considerably greater than could be explained by the model in terms of land-use change. Consequently, the study serves to focus attention on the long-term increases in nitrate concentration reported in major UK aquifers and the ongoing and chronic impact this trend is likely to be having on surface water concentrations. For river environments, where groundwater is a source, such trends will mask the impact of measures proposed to reduce the risk of nitrate leaching from agricultural land. Model estimates of within-channel losses account for 15–40% of nitrate entering rivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In 1976, the Royal College of Physicians and the British Cardiac Society recommended eating less fatty red meat and more poultry instead because it was lean. However, the situation has changed since that time, with a striking increase in fat content of the standard broiler chicken. The aim of the present study was to report a snapshot of data on fat in chickens now sold to the public. Design: Samples were obtained randomly between 2004 and 2008 from UK supermarkets, farm shops and a football club. The amount of chicken fat was estimated by emulsification and chloroform/methanol extraction. Setting: Food sold in supermarkets and farms in England. Subjects: Chicken samples. Results: The fat energy exceeded that of protein. There has been a loss of n-3 fatty acids. The n-6:n-3 ratio was found to be as high as 9:1, as opposed to the recommendation of about 2:1. Moreover, the TAG level in the meat and whole bird mostly exceeded the proportion of phospholipids, which should be the higher for muscle function. The n-3 fatty acid docosapentaenoic acid (DPA, 22 : 5n-3) was in excess of DHA (22 : 6n-3). Previous analyses had, as usual for birds, more DHA than DPA. Conclusions: Traditional poultry and eggs were one of the few land-based sources of long-chain n-3 fatty acids, especially DHA, which is synthesized from its parent precursor in the green food chain. In view of the obesity epidemic, chickens that provide several times the fat energy compared with protein seem illogical. This type of chicken husbandry needs to be reviewed with regard to its implications for animal welfare and human nutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1200 and 1349, villeinage was not prominent in Suffolk, and, even in those places where it was locally significant, many of its exactions were lightly enforced. The gap between the theory and practice of villeinage was maintained by custom, although this article emphasizes both the importance of regional custom and its mutability. The relative insignificance of villeinage here has two main implications: first, villeinage cannot have caused any crisis of agrarian productivity before the Black Death; and second, its subsequent dissolution cannot have been the prime mover behind the transformation of the landholding structure and the emergence of agrarian capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that farm service was an adaptable and sustainable system of hiring labour in areas of midland and southern England after 1850, having much in common with the model recently identified for northern England and Scotland. Analysing the Census Enumerators Books from selected parishes in seven counties in 1851, 1871, and 1891, we reveal an intricate pattern of farm service ‘survival’ both within and between counties. We then use a range of reports printed between the 1860s and 1920s to examine the national picture. The later regional persistence of farm service has implications for broader debates on the rural workforce and social relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  The High Weald is an unusually well-wooded area in southern England. A high proportion of this woodland is ancient, being formerly exploited as seasonal pasture and coppice. Multiple pollen profiles from the Rye area have been used to elucidate the origins of this cultural landscape. By combining sites with small and large pollen source areas, both local and regional patterns of vegetation change have been determined. The mid-Holocene Tilia-dominated woodlands were subjected to temporary clearance as early as the Neolithic. This woodland was more extensively exploited over a ca. 700 year period from the beginning of the Bronze Age. The main elements of the modern landscape (woodland, pasture and limited cultivation) can be traced back to a more intensive phase of human activity, which commenced in the late Bronze Age. A regional increase in Fagus sylvatica pollen ca. 750 B.C. probably reflects the use of the Wealden woods for pasturage. There is no palynological evidence that the fuel demands of the Roman iron industry resulted in widespread woodland destruction. The early Anglo-Saxon period appears to have been one of land-use continuity, with a second increase in Fagus pollen at ca. A.D. 700 corresponding to historical evidence for the presence of wood-pastures in the Weald. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the agrarian problem in the early fourteenth century in England. Effects of the pace and scale of the economic recession for agrarian and the agricultural industry; Class and property relations ont eh land; Feudal rights of lordship over their tenants; Agricultural policy.

The article focuses on European Feudalism from its emergence through its decline. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the outstanding feature of Europe was the feudal system. Thenceforward until the late Middle Ages, land paid virtually all the costs of government in England, and indeed throughout most of Europe. The following account focuses primarily on England as a particular case of a system that obtained quite generally, although, of course, details varied from country to country and also within countries. The land in use was overwhelmingly agricultural. Europe took refuge in a feudal system in the face of increasing barbarian invasion. Feudalism is now a term that carries connotations of privilege and oppression. It was indeed a system of unequal hereditary status. Yet it stood for a kind of justice, because no one was so high that his privileges were not conditional upon the discharge of obligations, and no one was so low that he was without certain rights. Although in practice it often fell short of this ideal, it was only when feudalism began to disintegrate, that privilege became wholly divorced from obligation, which simply disappeared. Of course, conditions under feudalism were not uniform, but taken as a whole, the number of days annually that the feudal tiller of the soil was obliged to work on his lord's demesne was certainly no greater, and may well have been considerably fewer, than the 123 that an American is obliged to work for Uncle Sam and his state and local uncles.

This article explores the expansion of the south-western fisheries in late medieval England. South-western England, particularly the counties of Devon and Cornwall, experienced significant economic growth, during the late middle ages, as indicated in the leap in assessed wealth made by these counties between the early fourteenth century and the early sixteenth. To explain this prosperity, historians have pointed to south-western England's highly diversified economy, which allowed it to adjust to the crises of the late middle ages with less difficulty than most other regions. Although people are relatively well-informed about the regions growing manufacture of cloth for export, its rising profits from tin-mining and its lucrative shift from livestock husbandry, less is known about the developments in the regions maritime sector and almost nothing about its marine fisheries, one of the mainstays of the marine economy. This article explores the expansion of the regions sea fisheries from the late fourteenth century to the early sixteenth century and argues that this expansion is part of the maritime sector's critical but unappreciated contribution to the rising prosperity South-Western England during the late middle ages.

This article presents a study which examined the methods used by agricultural historians which showed that they support a revisionist view of English agricultural history. This study argued that much of the productivity growth that occurred in England between the middle ages and the nineteenth century took place before the mid-eighteenth century, that small-scale, open field farmers accomplished much of this advance, that the middle and end of the eighteenth century was notable for its lack of output and productivity growth, and that the innovations of the eighteenth century made only a scant contribution to productivity growth. Growth in output and in productivity were in fact slow in the second half of the eighteenth century but accelerated notably in the first half of the nineteenth. This view sees the industrial revolution as the result of a long, prior phase of agricultural expansion, and suggests that one reason for the slow economic growth in the early phases of the industrial revolution was the stagnation in agricultural output and productivity in the second half of the eighteenth century.

Examines the wage book of a Derbyshire farm in England to determine the employment patterns of male and female day-laborers for the years 1772 to 1775 and 1831 to 1845. Innovations in agriculture that occurred in the period; Seasonal and sexual pattern of employment in the farm; Speculation that seasonal and sexual shifts in the demand for labor have brought changes in animal husbandry that followed enclosure.

This article discusses the mid-nineteenth-century crisis in France and England. The principal distinguishing characteristic of the old-style crisis in France was that it originated in the agricultural sector. In 1845, the arrival in France of the potato blight reduced the yield to a level that had not been seen since 1832. Whereas the France as a whole was far less dependent on this staple than Ireland, the shortfall caused real distress in the northern provinces. Coupled with high prices of wheat, France reeled in the face of this agricultural crisis. Among its immediate consequences were food riots, an increase in begging, and an acceleration in the existing pattern of urban in-migration among the poor. Comparably, the origins of the economic crisis in England also originated in the agricultural sector. In England, commercial crisis followed agricultural crisis mush as it did in France. Wheat's prices nearly doubled in the year following June 1846; fluctuations in prices and supply led to a financial crisis. Grain purchases abroad, primarily in the U.S., threatened to deplete the gold reserves of the Bank of England. The combined effects of agricultural and financial crises were naturally felt in the industrial sector.

This article discusses the role of widows in medieval rural society in England. Widows held a place in medieval rural society which is receiving belated recognition by historians. Deceased male tenants' holdings frequently passed to widows rather than directly to sons, which explains why women commonly formed a substantial proportion of tenants. They played an important role in the workings of inheritance, and on some estates their remarriages removed holdings permanently outside the family. The motives for their remarriages have been attributed to community pressures or to male demand for land, and the ability of some widows to work holdings independently has been ascribed to the help of male relatives. Attention has been directed away from widow tenants, with the result that their considerable opportunities for independence in the later middle ages have gone largely unrecognized. Independent widows formed a considerable proportion of the tenants in medieval English peasant society. J.C. Russell calculated that 14-8 percent of tenants in manorial surveys were women.

The article discusses the legal land enclosure that took place in England over a period of more than 400 years. A great deal of the land of England was enclosed in one way or another during the course of the eighteenth century, but in the light of the evidence now available, a strong case can be made out for the seventeenth rather than the eighteenth century as holding the pre-eminent position in the history of English enclosures. Although the source material necessary to enable one to establish precise measurements of the rate of pre-parliamentary enclosure in the various English counties may be lacking, there is no shortage of comment by seventeenth- century observers on the extent of enclosure in their own counties, or in those through which they traveled. A great deal of this contemporary comment has already been well digested in the secondary material now available on this subject. By drawing together the observations of contemporaries and the wealth of secondary material published in this century, it is now possible to suggest a new synthesis for the timing of enclosure in England.

The article examines the regional variation and the agricultural depression in England during the period 1730-1750. The nature of this depression suggests that broad generalizations may be misleading. It is not proposed to question the general thesis for depression but to suggest that there was an important element of regional variation which was itself part of a long-term shift in the balance of prosperity between arable and pastoral areas. Essentially the depression was the result of a long decline in the price of grain from the mid-seventeenth century, which culminated during the 1730s and 1740s with real corn prices falling by more than 15-20 percent relative to the prices prevailing in the 1720s. Even before the crisis became acute it is possible to discern regional differences in prosperity. The case for depression is based upon evidence of falling grain prices and the subsequent effect on rents. Grain prices declined during the second half of the seventeenth century because a slowing down in the rate of population growth coincided with a period of increasing agricultural production.