Manufacturing and Engineering Magazine Volume 425 - January 2016 | Page 66

AGRICULTURE

A GROWING
INDUSTRY
after a long period of decline, the
UK's farming sector is becoming
more prominent than ever.
Despite decades of industrial development and urbanisation, the UK's
farming industry continues to grow.
Its success is one we can trace back
to the agricultural sector's pronounced commitment to progress
and its incorporation of new manufacturing
and engineering processes.
Comprising some 43m acres of land, divided
between arable farming and animal pasture,
the UK's farming sector is more prominent than
ever. While the purpose of agriculture, to grow
and store sources of food for wide distribution,
hasn't changed since the birth of farming, the
practices and equipment making possible that
process has since become unrecognisable. Now
driven by the use of agrochemicals, intelligent
data capture software and complex mechanics,
the UK's farming industry is well-equipped to

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deal with the demands of a soaring population.
In arable farming, the types and sizes of
machinery used to yield crop have changed
enormously in line with increased demand, as
well as the looming environmental threat that
farming poses to both the local and global landscape. Because intensified production sees a
reduction in soil quality and can destroy the
natural habitat of many organic species, it has
been the challenge of creating and making use
of less invasive tooling equipment with a view
to reducing environmental cost. Various new
seed drills, tooling and ploughing equipment
have alleviated those concerns and established
alternative methods that are not only less
detrimental to local ecosystems but maintain
the rate of production needed to support
dependent societies. With more precise equipment, growers have moreover been able to