Agriculture: Land
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the quantity of best and most versatile agricultural land.
Answered by Mary Creagh
The current estimate of the quantity of best and most versatile agricultural land is 42% of agricultural land. Grades 1 and 2 together form about 21% of all farmland in England; Subgrade 3a also covers about 21%.
The last publicly available estimate of BMV land was published in a Natural England Technical Information Note in 2009. It can be foundavailable here:
The new Government recognises the importance of accurately identifying BMV land, and work is currently underway to develop a new strategic-scale map to replace the 1960s provisional Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) map. The updated map will align with current ALC guidelines and include the subdivision of Grade 3 land into subgrades 3a and 3b, which is not reflected in the provisional map. This project is expected to be completed by spring 2025, providing a more accurate and up-to-date assessment of land quality to inform future land use decisions.
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