Meteorology and the pattern of British grassland farming

Abstract

If effective transpiration is defined as the integration of potential transpiration over the April to September period at times when the soil moisture deficits within the root range are not great enough to act as a major check to grass growth, areal averages can be determined, taking into account the nature of the soil type. Such areal averages correlate very highly with the proportion of land which is classified as grassland, with the number of cattle and sheep which are carried relative to all land (farmland plus rough grazing), and with the number of cattle relative to farmland. Furthermore, the recent changes in the distribution of dairy cattle and of milk production are also highly correlated with this parameter in England and Wales, suggesting that it provides a valid representation of grassland climate.