AGRICULTURE IN BRITAIN

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25270, 23 August 1947, Page 9

AGRICULTURE IN BRITAIN

Plans For Big Expansion INCREASE ABOVE WAR PEAK

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, August 21. The Minister of Agriculture (Mr Tom Williams) to-day announced the British Government’s new agricultural plan, involving an expansion of 50 per cent, compared with the pre-war position, 15 per cent, compared with the war-time peak, and 20 per cent, compared with the current year.

‘The programme involves an immense effort, greatly surpassing the highest known output of the agricultural industry,” he said. “It is hoped, even so, that the new figures will be exceeded. Emphasis is deliberately placed on dollar-saving products such as pigmeat, eggs, beef, mutton, cereals, and linseed. Foreign labour is being recruited, and the Government has in hand a review of all possible sources of additional British labour. The Government is detqfmined that the expansion programme will not be frustrated by shortages of iron, steel, timber, and other materials.”

The programme was designed to increase the net agricultural output by £100,000,000, falling roughly into two parts, £50,000,000 from higher efficiency and £50,000,000 from additions to the resources of the industry.

Long-term Efficiency .Mr Williams added that the expansion of output was not put forward to meet a temporary necessity. The Government recognised the need for long-term stability and efficiency. He was hopeful that the subsidies and other incentives would induce farmers to help themselves. Some inducements were designed to influence small farm holders to make greater efforts.

The Government wanted to increase the area sown in wheat by about 500,000 acres. The new prices for wheat, livestock, and home-grown wool were substantial. Four hundred thousand acres of linseed would be added to the crop area because linseed was a valuable source both of cattle cake and oil for industrial purposes. The effort required would fall mainly on individuals—farmers, farm workers, and landowners—and he appealed to all in the agricultural industry to make a supreme effort. “This is a national emergency,” he said. “Even if the export targets are fully achieved the nation cannot, except through a large expansion of agricultural production, simultaneously provide itself both with foodstuffs to produce an adequate diet and industrial raw materials to sustain the level of employment.” Farmers now had their greatest opportunity, without coercion, to see what they could do for the country, which was in desperate straits. The fulfilment of the programme would not affect imports from the primary producing countries of the Empire such as New Zealand and Australia. “We shall still want all the food we can buy from these countries,” he said.

Subsidies Proposed To increase the area under cultivation and improve the standard of pasture, a new subsidy of £4 an acre would be paid on all grassland established more than three years which was ploughed in and resown, either in approved crops or new pasture, before the end of 1949. To encourage the rearing of young calves for both beef and dairy purposes, a grant of £4 a head for all steer calves, and £3 a head for all heifer calves reared to 12 months, would come into operation immediately. A scheme to encourage grass conservation would be announced, and a free service of beef bulls maintained at artificial insemination centres would be established.

In addition to substantial increases in acreage payments for 1948 crops, the Minister said that there would be a new acreage payment of £3 an acre for next year’s wheat crop, and an additional payment of £4 an acre for the first 10 acres of all potato crops. New prices for livestock and livestock products included increases of 2.6 d a gallon for milk, 14s 4d a live cwt for fat cattle, 7s 6d a live cwt for fat cows, bulls, and rejects, 5d per lb for fat sheep and lambs, 4s 6d a score for fat pigs, and 9d per lb for “hill type” wool and 6d per lb for other types. These prices would obtain until March 31, 1949, but with some slight variations they would be maintained on a guaranteed basis until 1952. For 1947 crops, the price increases were limited to recouping farmers for the additional costs caused by the increases in • wages of agricultural workers.

Provision was made for a periodic review of the price scale, but the rates announced were all the guaranteed minima.

The new programme called for a 60 per cent, increase in wheat production, a 56 per cent, increase in oats, 29 per cent, in potatoes, 31 per cent, in sugar beet, 23 per cent, in milk, 52 per cent, in eggs, and 10 per cent, in beef and veal, all compared with pre-war production. Because of the dimunition in the

size of Britain’s sheep flocks and the large decrease in the number of pigs caused by war conditions and last winter’s floods, the targets set for mutton and lamb and pig-meat production were only 77 and 92 per cent, of the pre-war totals respectively. Housing and Labour Mr Williams said that the Cabinet had now allocated agricultural housing first priority, together with housing for miners, and every possible effort would be made to ensure that supplies of building materials were not held up. He admitted that the dollar shortage might affect these supplies, and also extra supplies of animal feeding stuffs which it was intended to import, but here again everything which would give British agriculture the facilities it needed to grow more food would have first priority. He denied that agricultural workers were opposing the introduction of foreign labour, although he admitted that the Agricultural Workers’ Union was insisting that accommodation should be available for these extra workers before they were brought to Britain. The Lord President of the Council (Mr Herbert Morrison) said that the Government would co-operate with the farmers. For this year, at least, no farm workers would be called up for service with the forces. Many more Poles, and other foreigners, would have to be accepted for farm work. COMMENT BY FARMERS’ UNION LONDON, August 21. The National Farmers’ Union, in a statement on the Government’s plan for agriculture, said: ‘‘The full effect of dollar saving will start only at the peak of the output which the Government has scheduled for 1951-52. Farmers will try to beat the clock. The Government’s production targets do not present insuperable problems, but the economy of the industry at the peak will have to be sustained if the cost is to be justified.”