Structure of the Chapter:
After studying this chapter students should understand crop rotations and for what purpose they are used, then they should be able to describe combinable crops and cereals markets.
Crop rotation - an important way of maintaining the fertility of farmland by changing crops in a particular field
Ley - an area of land temporarily under grass
Fodder - dried food, hay etc. for farm animals
Fertility - state of being fertile i.e. able to produce a large number of good quality crops
Nutrient - serving as or providing nourishment
Pest - an insect or small animal which is harmful or which damages crops
Yield - the amount of crops produced
Manure - animal waste from stables and cow barns, or other material, natural or artificial, spread over or mixed with the soil to make it fertile
Legume - a plant that has its seeds in a long thin case, such as the bean or pea
Harvest - to cut and gather grain and other food crops
Ripen - to make or become ripe (ready to be gathered and used)
Arable - used for or suitable for growing crops
Feed - food for animals
Starch - white, tasteless, carbohydrate food substance, plentiful in potatoes and grain
Sound - healthy, in good condition, not decayed
Moisture - condensed vapour on a surface
Brew - to make beer
Gluten - sticky substance (protein) that is left when starch is washed out of flour
Find all the meanings of the term of “crop” in any explanatory dictionary.
Have a look at the picture at the beginning of this unit and then name and translate
some of the crops.
What crops are grown in the region where you live?
listening
Arable cropping
There are many workable
crop rotations, reflecting the diversity of
crop enterprises and their combinations within production units across the UK.
On mixed farms a 2- or 3-year
ley will form the backbone of the rotation with forage maize or other
fodder crop also in the sequence. Crop rotations are used to:
- maintain soil
fertility and obtain maximum benefit from natural
nutrient cycling
- give opportunity for cultural control of weeds and cheaper chemical control of weeds
- control or minimize effect of soil-borne
pests and diseases
- encourage biodiversity within the farm system
- make optimum use of natural resources
- spread risk and maximize financial returns
Historically, the chief importance of rotations was in relation to soil fertility. Before the
invention of artificial bagged fertilizer, methods for maintaining soil fertility were essential to
ensure that
yields did not decline as the land became exhausted. There was great
reliance on
manure and
legumes for restoring the fertility after exhaustive crops. Rotating different crops around the same
piece of land helped this process.
The annual DEFRA publication Agriculture in the United Kingdom should be consulted for current
detailed crop production figures:
Total cropped area:
|
4,665,000 ha
|
|
Cereals:
|
3,348,000 ha
|
Oilseed rape:
|
332,000 ha
|
Linseed:
|
71,000 ha
|
Field beans and peas:
|
208,000 ha
|
Sugar beet:
|
173,000 ha
|
Potatoes:
|
166,000 ha
|
Vegetables:
|
119,000 ha
|
Bare fallow area:
|
37,000 ha
|
Combinable crops:
Combinable crops are those grown for the grain or seed, harvested at relatively low moisture
contents. Grain/seed ripening requires warm dry conditions and thus all the UK combinable
crops are grown for harvest in the summer/early autumn period in order to take advantage of the
seasonal climate. Products are then stored to supply the market all year round.
The cropping system on the majority of UK arable farms is based on the combinable crop season
and requirements. Most UK combinable crops are grown under the Assured Combinable
Crops Scheme which ensures that the product is produced using good agricultural practice and is traceable.
Cereals:
Cereals are grown for animal feed and human consumption both for use in the UK and as exports.
The animal feed grain market accepts wheat, barley, oats, and the price obtained reflects the
extractable starch or energy content of the grain. Thus wheat commands a higher price than barley
and barley a higher price than oats. Oats can be sold into the specialist horse feed market at
higher prices. Quality standards in the UK are appearing in the animal feed grain sector and the
price can be reduced if grain is below a target specific weight. Generally though the main quality
requirement is sound grain of below 15% moisture content with a contaminants content below 5%.
The feed price is generally the lowest price in the market.
Grains sold for human consumption include the major markets of wheat for bread and biscuits,
ad barley for brewing. Other specialist markets include wheat for cake flours, barley
for other domestic uses, wheat and oats for breakfast cereals, wheat for gluten
extractions and rye for crispbread. The human consumption markets command premiums over feed
grains but demand stricter quality requirements which are assessed in the laboratories at
the intake site.
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II. Complete the following table:
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III Fill in the correct prepositions:
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IV. Match the words with the same or similar meaning:
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V. Quiz
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This chapter deals with crop rotations, combinable crops and cereals markets. Students will learn the terminology of this topic in a specialist text and in number of activities.
The Agricultural Notebook edited by R. J. Soffe, Blackwell Publishing Company 2003
Home page
Comprehension Check:
- 2-or 3-year ley
- that the product is produced using good agricultural practice
- oats can be sold into specialist horse feed market
- sound grain of below 15% moisture content with a contaminants content below 5%
- wheat for bread and biscuits and barley for brewing
Check I:
T, F, F, T, F, F, T, F
Check II
Verb: grow, strengthen, consume, combine, fertilize, rotate, demand, accept, depend
Adjective: strong, traceable, fertile, acceptable
Noun: growth, consumption, trace, combination, rotation, demand, dependence
Check III:
1) on, 2) of, 3) of, 4) to, 5) of, 6) in, 7) of, 8) from, 9) from, 10) on, 11) in
Check IV
1f, 2a, 3g, 4e, 5j, 6i, 7d, 8h, 9c, 10b
Check V
- b
- a
- b
- a
- c
- a
- b
- c
- a
- a
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