Hedgerow removal is part of the transition of arable land from low-intensity to high-intensity farming. In Geography, arable land (from Latin arare, to Plough) is an agricultural term meaning land that can be used for Intensive farming or intensive agriculture is an Agricultural production system characterized by the high Inputs of Capital, Fertilizers Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture The removal of hedgerows gives larger fields making the sowing and harvesting of crops easier, faster and cheaper, and giving a larger area to grow the crops, increasing yield and profits. A hedge is a line of closely spaced Shrubs and bushes planted and trained in such a way as to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area
Hedgerows serve as important wildlife corridors, especially in the United Kingdom where they link the country's fractured ancient woodland. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Ecologically a woodland is an area covered in trees differentiated from a Forest. They also serve as a habitat for birds and other animals. A habitat (which is Latin for "it inhabits" is an Ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular Species. Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. As the land within a few metres of hedges is difficult to plough, sow, or spray with herbicides, the land around hedges also typically includes high plant biodiversity. A herbicide is used to kill unwanted Plants Selective herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the desired Crop relatively unharmed Biodiversity is the variation of Life forms within a given Ecosystem, Biome or for the entire Earth. Hedges also serve to stabilise the soil and on slopes help prevent soil creep and leaching of minerals and plant nutrients. Erosion is the carrying away or displacement of solids ( Sediment, Soil, rock and other particles usually by the agents of currents such as wind A mineral is a naturally occurring substance formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition a highly ordered atomic structure and specific Removal thus weakens the soil and leads to erosion.
In the United Kingdom hedgerow removal has been occurring since World War I as technology made intensive farming possible, and the increasing population demanded more food from the land. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The trend has slowed down somewhat since the 1980s when cheap food imports reduced the demand on British farmland, and as the European Union Common Agricultural Policy made environmental projects financially viable. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in The Common Agricultural Policy ( CAP) is a system of European Union Agricultural subsidies and programmes Under reforms to national and EU agricultural policies the environmental impact of farming features more highly and in many places hedgerow conservation and replanting is taking place.
In England and Wales agricultural hedgerow removal is controlled by the Hedgerow Regulations 1997, administered by the local authority. Local governments are administrative offices that are smaller than a State.