page_title: Agriculture in the United Kingdom
section_title: Cattle farming
hierarchical_section_title: Agriculture in the United Kingdom / Pastoral farming / Cattle farming
caption_attribution_description: English: Jersey herd at New Moor Farm, Walworth Gate, County Durham, England, May 2010.
context_page_description: Agriculture in the United Kingdom uses 69% of the country's land area, employs 1.5% of its workforce and contributes 0.6% of its gross value added. The UK produces less than 60% of the food it consumes. Agricultural activity occurs in most rural locations, it is concentrated in East Anglia and the South West. There are 212,000 farm holdings, which vary widely in size.
  Despite skilled farmers, advanced technology, fertile soil and subsidies, farm earnings are relatively low, mainly due to low prices at the farm gate. Low earnings, high land prices and a shortage of let farmland discourage young people from joining the industry. The average age of the British farm holder is now about 60.
  Recently there have been moves towards organic farming in an attempt to sustain profits, and many farmers supplement their income by diversifying activities away from pure agriculture. Biofuels present new opportunities for farmers against a background of rising fears about fossil fuel prices, energy security, and climate change. There is increasing awareness that farmers have an important role to play as custodians of the British countryside and wildlife.
context_section_description: There are about 17,000 dairy farms in the UK, largely in the west.  Average herd size is 86 cows in England, 75 in Wales and 102 in Scotland.  Most cows are milked twice a day, and an average dairy cow yields 6,300 litres a year. The most important dairy cattle breed is the ubiquitous British Friesian, which has largely replaced the Dairy Shorthorn in British dairy herds thanks both to its high milk yield and the relatively high quality of the beef it produces.
  The UK once produced roughly as much beef as it ate, but this changed in 1996 because of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).  The BSE crisis led to regulations preventing animals more than 30 months old from entering the food chain, which meant cull cows could no longer be sold for beef. Just under 6 million cattle over this age were destroyed.  A Calf Purchase Aid Scheme, under which a further nearly 2 million calves were slaughtered, ended in 1999. In 2002, the UK produced 72% of the beef it ate.  Important beef cattle breeds include the Hereford, which is the most popular British beef breed, and the Aberdeen Angus.  The once-widespread Beef Shorthorn is now a relatively uncommon sight.
  Cows require significant areas of grassland to raise.  Dairy cows need 0.4 to 0.5 hectares per cow, including the area needed for winter silage; suckler beef cows can need up to a whole hectare each.  The UK produces very little veal, and UK law requires that animals are kept in daylight in groups with bedding and access to hay, silage or straw.  This produces "pink" veal which grows more slowly and is less desirable to the continental customer.
caption: Jersey cattle
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