Agriculture
UPGRADE DATA: AgCensus data via paid subscription service from EDINA (University of Edinburgh) (www.edina.ac.uk/agcensus)
Agricultural practices
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The agricultural activities undertaken in a catchment often define the character of the rural landscape and can have a significant impact on the environment and its ability to provide the services we need. An indication of the types and intensity of farming practice undertaken across the catchment landscape can be gained by looking at Agricultural Census data. The AgCensus includes information on farm type (up until 2000) and the overall statistics for livestock or arable farming practices can also be sub-divided into all of the individual types of activity undertaken to determine where certain farming activities are occurring and to what intensity across the landscape.
Agricultural Land Class. Free from Natural England GIS website. (www.naturalengland.org.uk/publications/ data)
Overview
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Agricultural Land Class Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) is a method for assessing the quality of farmland to enable informed choices to be made about its future use within the planning system (as defined by the National Planning Policy Framework). The ALC system classifies land into five grades: the best and most versatile land is defined as Grades 1, 2 and 3, while Grades 4 and 5 are of poorer quality.