THE FARM FAMILY-LIFE CYCLE, SUCCESSION PATHS AND ENVIRONMENTAL-CHANGEIN BRITAIN COUNTRYSIDE

Research into the physical extent and rate of recent environmental cha nge in the British countryside is at a more advanced stage than that c oncerned with causes and processes. This paper presents findings from a project designed to introduce a socio-economic component into the Go vernment's Countryside Surveys. Based on a questionnaire survey of occ upiers with land in 169 1 km squares across Britain and a linked analy sis of environmental and farm survey data, it examines the connection between farm business and land cover change in the squares. Different trajectories of farm business, and hence environmental, change are def ined and related to lifecycle effects and influences associated with s uccession. A conclusion is that the processes of succession and inheri tance are continuing to define critical transitions during which farm business, and hence environmental change, is most likely to be taking place.