American agriculture changed radically between 1820 and 1870. In turning slowly from subsistence to commercial farming, farmers on the average doubled the portion of their production places on the market, and thereby laid the foundations for today's highly productive agricultural industry. But the modern system was by no means inevitable. It evolved slowly through an intricate process in which innovative and imitative entrepreneurs were the key instruments.

This book provides a multidisciplinary analysis of the impact of Brexit on British agriculture and associated areas, discussing the Common Agricultural Policy and the Agriculture Act 2020. The Brexit referendum provoked new debates and questions over the future of agriculture in Britain and the potential positive and negative impacts of Brexit on both farmers and consumers. These debates, as well as the ensuing proposals relevant to the Agriculture Act 2020, have exposed the multidimensional effects of Brexit when it comes to agriculture. With a focus on profitability, the rights of farmers, environmental protection, as well as animal welfare, this book brings together an interdisciplinary analysis of the future of British agriculture in post-Brexit Britain. More specifically, it addresses the criticisms over the Common Agriculture Policy, presents an analysis of the Agriculture Act 2020, and considers suggestions for future developments. Through this analysis, the book suggests a way towards the future, with a positive outlook towards a competitive and sustainable agriculture that will satisfy the needs of farmers and consumers while ensuring environmental protection, animal welfare, and rural development. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of food and agricultural policy and politics, agroecology and rural development, as well as policymakers involved in Britain’s post-Brexit environmental policy.

Cattle have been the mainstay of Irish farming since the Neolithic began in Ireland almost 6000 years ago. Cattle, and especially cows, have been important in the life experiences of most Irish people, directly and/or through legends such as the Táin Bó Cuailnge (The Cattle-raid of Cooley). In this book, diverse aspects of cattle in Ireland, from the circumstances of their first introduction to recent and ongoing developments in the management of grasslands – still the main food-source for cattle in Ireland – are explored in thirteen essays written by experts. New information is presented, and several aspects relating to cattle husbandry and the interactions of cattle and people that have hitherto received little or no attention are discussed.

Farming in the generation between 1930 and 1960 saw changes on a previously unknown scale. On most holdings, work continued to be carried out by all the family members. Men, women and children all had roles in the production of crops and livestock. At busier times neighbours were called on for help, and workers were also hired on some farms, either full-time or seasonally. All of these relationships could lead to tensions and conflict, but they also led to great intimacy and kindness, with individuals showing commitment to the well-being of their family, their neighbours, and even their employers and employees. This book uses oral history to explore life on Ulster farms between 1930 and 1960. This valuable record of the faming community describes in fascinating detail the many changes in practically every aspect of working life and their associated patterns of social life, all in the face of increasing government intervention, globalisation of markets, and the cataclysm of the Second World War. These massive changes have often been seen as damaging social networks in rural areas, but the collective memories of those involved bear witness to their marvellous capacity to adapt. The oral testimonies on which the book is based show that, for farming people, change could and did create new relationships and wider opportunities on both a professional and personal level.

This volume deals with agricultural activity 'up to the farmgate', leaving consideration of food processig to a forthcoming review. The key role of agriculture in the UK economy and the controversial aspects of agricultural finance within the wider context of the EEC ensure that this review will be widely used as a dey research source in a range of institutions, from governmental to educational, to industrial and commercial.