How many people can land support?

[MaryN]

What a dinky little picture. The answer to the query is... it depends what you want to grow and eat. A lot of agricultural land in the UK is very good quality and produces high yields. I live in the Fens area in Norfolk, and agricultural land here is highly priced and very productive. All that silt from when it was undrained marshland is probably the reason for that. If you do not include "foreign" imports of oranges, coffee etc etc., 5 acres of land will adequately provide for a family in this country. If you are keeping livestock, it will depend on what you keep. Personally, we keep chickens for eggs. They don't need much space but they have their jobs clearing bugs and suchlike from the garden. I have 3 horses, and the recommended minimum is 1 acre per horse. Got to say, if I let the beasties loose on more than that I would be dealing with all sorts of over-eating problems. We also grow much of what we eat in terms of fruit and vegetables. How long is a piece of string?