The Land, and How it is Currently Used
In rough general figures, Totnes and District contains around 23,700 ha of land (DCLG 2005). Of that, agricultural land consists of approximately 19,282 ha; woodland and set-aside land covers around 1,273 ha (Defra 2004); buildings, roads, water, paths, railways and ‘other’ account for about 1,272 ha., and gardens around 329 ha (DCLG 2005). Our starting point in this paper is to look at the quality of the land that is available in the area, which will in turn inform our land use options. Clearly it makes no sense to graze sheep on Grade 1 land, nor to try to grow wheat on Grade 5 land1. The land base beneath our feet will inevitably constrain and inform our land use choices. Figure 52 sets out the land use classes for Totnes and District.
Land use classes across Totnes and District, showing the Totnes and District area boundary. Source: Natural England 2002, 2008
Having identified these land use classes, the next step is to pin down how land in Totnes and District is currently used. This has proven a difficult task given that the area we are looking at straddles several of Defra’s data areas, but pinning this down is key to our being able to explore the potential productivity of the area. The most recent data available at a suitably granular level is that from 2004. After that point, Defra issued statistics in a more general format, and specific data is harder to come by. As a rough thumbnail sketch, based on the 2004 data, land use in the area is composed as shown in Figure 63:
A general indication of land use in Totnes and District in 2004. Table data Source: Defra (2004) June Agricultural Survey Data
A more detailed breakdown is as follows4:
Total pasture: 12,062 ha
- Permanent grass: 8,911ha
- Temporary grass: 2,638 ha
- Grazing: 513 ha
Total Cereals: 2,669 ha
- Wheat: 869 ha
- Winter Barley: 604 ha
- Spring Barley: 877 ha
- Oats: 189 ha
- Other cereals: 130 ha
Fallow land5: 3,607ha
Total other arable: 944 ha
- Potatoes: 34ha
- Beans 67ha
- Peas 43ha
- Oilseed rape 149ha
- Linseed 70ha
- Turnips 55ha
- Other stock feed 70ha
- Maize: 295ha
- Other arable: 54ha
- Bare fallow: 9ha
- Total peas and beans: 1ha
- Vegetables (salads): 64ha
- Orchard fruit: 24ha
- Bush fruit: 5haNurseries: 6ha
In terms of the regional enhancing of self-reliance this paper is exploring, it is interesting to note that the 2,669 ha dedicated to cereals production in 2004 would yield, under organic systems, roughly 8,000 tons of wheat annually, enough for around 24,000 people if they ate a diet consisting mostly of wheat, but clearly able to support far more people as part of a more balanced diet.
Footnotes
- The Defra Agricultural Land Classification divides farm land into five grades according to climate, site and soil characteristics. These can be summarised as:
Grade 1: excellent quality agricultural land, suitable for a wide range of crops including top fruit, soft fruit, salad crops and winter vegetables
Grade 2: very good quality agricultural land, suitable for all but the most demanding crops, with yields possibly lower and more variable than Grade 1
Subgrade 3a: good quality agricultural land, capable of producing moderate/high yields of a narrower range of arable crops including cereals, grass, rape, potatoes etc
Subgrade 3b: moderate quality, capable of growing moderate yields of cereals or high yields of grazing grass
Grade 4: poor quality agricultural land, with severely restricted crop range or yield, mainly suited to grass or occasional forage crops; also includes droughty arable land
Grade 5: very poor quality agricultural land, only usable for permanent pasture or rough grazing.
Full definitions and grading methodology can be found at www.defra.gov.uk/farm/environment/land-use [↩] - Natural England 2002, 2008 [↩]
- Defra (2004) June Agricultural Survey data [↩]
- Defra (2004) June Agricultural Survey Data [↩]
- Fallow land is here referred to as cropland that is not seeded for a season; it may or may not be ploughed. The land may be cultivated or chemically treated for control of weeds and other pests or may be left unaltered. infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0818206.html [↩]
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