Carrying capacity of traditional farming in South East England: A case study

Lovatt Smith, Paul and Nobes, Gavin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1991-1130 (2020) Carrying capacity of traditional farming in South East England: A case study. Organic Farming, 6 (1). pp. 14-22. ISSN 2297-6485

[thumbnail of Published_Version]
Preview
PDF (Published_Version) - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (244kB) | Preview

Abstract

Traditional farming in South East (SE) England is presented as a highly-evolved form of sustainable farming. The carrying capacity of traditional farming on a 2.75 ha family smallholding in SE England is assessed from production data recorded over a period of 8 years. The key elements of the farming system were mixed farming (livestock, dairy, arable and horticultural), self-sufficiency in terms of inputs and organic principles. Ten types of food were produced with the aim to comprise all the elements of a balanced diet. The holding and farming system are described and an analysis of the food produced is presented, in terms of weight and energy content, for the years 2010 to 2017. An average carrying capacity of 0.64 people ha-1 was demonstrated on the basis of food energy content alone. Carrying capacity increased to 1.09 people ha-1 when production was re-proportioned to align with the UK Government’s currently recommended balanced diet. The latter figure is similar to carrying capacity estimates, derived from national statistics, for the UK’s total farmland in the middle part of the 20th Century but significantly lower than theoretical predictions of national carrying capacity.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: balanced diet,carrying capacity,organic,sustainable farming,traditional farming
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Psychology
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Developmental Science
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Cognition, Action and Perception
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Social Cognition Research Group
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Research on Children and Families
Related URLs:
Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 21 Jul 2020 01:37
Last Modified: 14 Jun 2023 23:51
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/76183
DOI: 10.12924/of2020.06010014

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item