Agriculture: Land Use
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 56079 on Agriculture: Land Use, whether he plans to collect date on the potential impact of large-scale solar farms on (a) agricultural land use and (b) landscape character to inform future land use policy.
Answered by Mary Creagh
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 11 June 2025 to Question 56079.
Defra does not collect information on the potential impacts of constructing green energy infrastructure on agricultural land use or landscape character.
However, Defra does produce statistical estimates of agricultural land areas each year from the annual June Survey of Agriculture:
- In 2024, the utilised agricultural area (UAA) in England was 8.7 million hectares and this has remained broadly stable, only changing by around +/-1% each year over the past decade. Full breakdowns of agricultural land areas are published here Agricultural land use in England - Agricultural land use in England - GOV.UK.
- In 2024, around 7,300 hectares of this land were used for solar panels (less than 0.1% of UAA). However, 50% of this land is still being used for agricultural production e.g. for livestock grazing.
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