ASSIGNMENT (4):

CASE STUDY ON AN ARABLE FARM --- GLEBE FARM

What is an arable farm? An arable farm is a farm where only crops are grown. The
products are then used or sold by farmers according to their needs.

LOCATION:
Glebe farm is an arable farm in Lincolnshire, UK. It has about 127 hectares of land area.

BACKGROUND AND SET-UP:

● The farm was bought by a new owner in 1973; the same year the UK joined the European Union (EU).
● The EU is an organization of 28 countries and over 500 million people that trade with each other as
a common market
● The money that member countries contributed to a central fund belong to the EU was available to
farmers as grants and subsidies
● These grants and subsidies were used to produce the food required by the whole of the EU.
● Under the Common Agricultural Policy , farmers could produce what they wanted but only get grants
and subsidies if they met EU production targets.
● In the past decade, EU funding for agriculture has changed . Now there is direct payment based on
farm size, environmental protection , animal welfare and keeping the land in good condition.
● Other payments are given for conservation measures such as keeping hedges for wildlife and
footpaths open , creating ponds.
● This has changed the appearance of the rural environment in the UK.

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS:
● Ideal for arable farming.
● Rainfall every month of the year
● Most temperatures are growing season temperatures of 6 degrees
● Sandy soil drains well and warms up quickly → good for crops
● Warm temps make soil too dry for grass to grow so feeding cattle is hard - not an issue though
because pastoral farming is not a major thing, only arable (it is not a pastoral or mixed farm).

FARMING PROCEDURE:
The overall steps involved in the farming procedure include -

PREPARATION → SOWING → HARVESTING → PLOUGHING → REST → REPEAT

At glebe farm, tractors, ploughs and seed drills are used for better farming. Farming is planned so
crops needing less attention are put further away from farm buildings.
INPUTS: (factors required in a farm for it to function)

● Physical inputs (naturally occurring inputs)

- Consistent rainfall ( every month)

- 127 hectares in area

- 6 degree mild winters

- warm summers

- flat land

- farm face south ( more direct sunlight can get to the crops)

- located by the sea

● Human inputs (artificial/man-made inputs)

- fertilizers

- sprays

- tractors

- labour

- drains

- ploughs

- seed drill

- combine harvester (a versatile machine that can perform reaping, threshing, gathering, winnowing)

PROCESSES: (actions within a farm to convert the inputs into outputs)

● preparation of crops
● sewing seeds ( in march)
● fertilization of cereals
● spraying ( pesticides)
● harvesting
● ploughing
OUTPUTS: (end products; as a result of those processes being carried out using the inputs)

● sugar beet
● potatoes
● oil seed rape
● linseed
● wheat
● strawberries
● raspberries

PROBLEMS FACED BY FARMERS (with solutions):

- Farm faces south, so the higher northern fields drain down the hill to a wet grass area.

(Solution implied → Drains need to be put in to take away surplus water)

- Soil lacks nutrients.

(Solution implied → Required fertilizers are used to make up for it)

- Sprouts and cereals are attacked by insects and diseases.

(Solution implied → Sprays are used to protect them)