British Agriculture

The British rural landscape has been created and managed by farmers for genera­tions. And today the British agriculture has its own specific features. A number of farms are family farms, but they are not numerous. The main kinds of farming in Britain are: arable, dairy, sheep and mixed farming.

Western regions of Britain due to the climate are especially suitable for dairy farming.

In the eastern part of Britain most farms are arable. The farmers grow different crops there. They grow grain crops (barley, oats, wheat, and rye), potatoes, fruit and vegetables and other crops. Most small farms in Britain are mixed farms, on which farmers grow some crops and keep some farm animals.

Britain is famous for its sheep farming. It is developed mostly in hilly parts of the country.

Barley is the most popular crop in Great Britain. It is used for making beer and for feeding livestock.

The second crop is wheat which is grown mainly in England. But its quality is not high. Hard wheat of high quality is imported from Canada, Australia and Argen­tina.

Very little rye is growing nowadays in Britain.

Most of British farms are highly mechanized and yields of crops are excellent. But they cannot produce enough food required by the vast industrial population. Brit­ain usually imports meat, butter, wheat, fruit, and tobacco and so on...

1. Word for the text:

rural landscape - сельский пейзаж

generations - поколение

beer-пиво

arable - пахотный

dairy - молочный

mixed farm - смешанная ферма, хозяйство смешанного типа

grain crops - зерновые культуры ^!

vegetables - овощи

2. Answer the questions to the text:

1. What kind of crops are farmers growing?

2. What else Britain is famous?

3. What Britain is usually imported?

4. What kinds of farming in Britain do you know?