Resources in Agriculture: Labour

In the United Kingdom about 700 000 people, a little less than 3 per cent of the working population, are currently directly engaged in agriculture. This figure refers to those who work on farms and horticultural holdings either full- or part-time.1 Taking a broader view of what constitutes agriculture by including the service industries which depend directly on British farming (veterinary services, animal food suppliers, etc.) adds a further 246 000 (or 1 per cent of the working population). To go further and embrace the food distribution industry and tourism which are partly dependent on the activities of farms raises extreme problems of definition. Virtually all sectors of the economy are interrelated, and segmentation is not always practical for descriptive purposes nor necessary in explaining changes. Nevertheless, of the 600 000 engaged in food processing (March 1980), food distribution and retailing (187 000), machinery manufacture (60 000) and chemicals (12 000 for fertiliser alone), it has been estimated that 215 000 jobs are directly dependent on UK agriculture.2 Together this agricultural and related employment represents about 1 job in 20 for the economy as a whole.