SPEEDING THE PLOUGH

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 183, 30 April 1940, Page 7

SPEEDING THE PLOUGH

Progress In Britain INTENSIVE EFFORT DESCRIBED Need Of More Labour Familiar pastures look strange in furrow. They are the proof of the efforts which farmers are making to grow more food for man and beast. Under the plough hundreds of thousands of acres of indifferent grassland can be made three or four times as productive as they have been in late years (wrote the agricultural correspondent of "Ihe Times,” London, last month). The following official, figures speak' for themselves. In 1914 the arable acreage of the country was 10.995.254 : in 191 S, 12,398.640; in 1939. 5,926.000. These figures show 'lllO amount ot leeway to be made up in order to come anywhere near the 191 S acreage. By Hie end of this month 1,500.000 additional acres .are wanted, of which about 1,000,090 are already ploughed. Ploughing up grassland iu the United Kingdom is the most effective first step to a big increase in home food production. It is too much to expect that full crops of corn for this year's harvest will be grown on all the fields which are now being brought under the plough again. Old turf often harbours wireworm and other pests which will take their toll of the new corn crops: but the ploughs, the harrows, and the seed-drills are at work and none of the difficulties is overwhelming if farmers are resolute.

They do not need to be told that in wartime it is their duty to produce as much as possible from their land. At least two-thirds and probably threequarters of the new ploughing for this season was offered voluntarily to the county war agricultural executive committees. These offers have been confirmed by ploughing orders and the reluctant. minority have been ordered to do their share.

Every county has been given its quota of grassland to be ploughed and cropped. Some counties, Gloucestershire for one, have already achieved their ploughing task, but others are still fair short of the aim set them by the Government. In Essex for four months the heavy clay lay waterlogged and untouchable. Elsewhere farmers have found it difficult to reconcile ploughing one or more of their precious grass fields with the maintenance of their milking herds. There are some small dairy-farmers using their grassland so intensively that they have, been excused any ploughing, but few farm' produce to the maximum.

Question of Prices. Peace-time prices discouraged high farming. Even today a clear price incentive to increased output is lacking. No one can say what prices will rule for the wheat, barley, oats, potatoes ami other crops being grown for this year's harvest. A general guarantee has been given that the Government will fix reasonable prices in the light of costs ot production, and it is to their credit, that farmers have accepted the Government’s word. No doubt the campaign for increased food production would have gone with more swing and a good deal more enthusiasm if definite minimum prices for the 1940 crops could have been announced last autumn. There would have been greater eagerness to plough up grassland and grow every bushel of corn possible. As matters stand, farmers are undertaking more cropping because they know it is their duty and because they must grow more feeding stuffs for their cattle, pigs and other stock. The prudent farmer no longer heeds official assurances about future supplies of imported feeding stuffs. The plain fact is that no one can see ahead for more than a few weeks. Ploughing committees as practical people do not ask farmers to do the impossible, but as the agents of the Minister of Agriculture they have to see that farmers carry out their obligations. To help those farmers who have not the necessary implements to undertake arable cropping the county committees have been supplied with Government tractors, harrows, seed drills, and other machinery. These tractors and implements have already accounted for many thousands of acres of ploughing, and there is little question that in some counties —Devon, for instance, with many small allgrass farms and 80,000 acres extra to plough—the work could not have been done without the Government machinery. In the whole country there are now over 60,000 tractors. The Government tractors are, however, a very small part of the whole number at. work. Under the new Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provision) Bill the county committees are also able to help needy farmers by arranging the supply of seed, fertilizers, and other requisites for increased cropping. It will be interesting to see how far these Government credit facilities are used. The first effect has been to make the banks rather more forthcoming in the matter of farmers’ overdrafts, but there will be some lame dogs whom neither the bank nor the agricultural merchant is willing to help over the stile. More Hands Wanted. Misgivings are being expressed about the supply of labour. Extra hands will no doubt volunteer gladly for the harvest: but farmers want regular workers for the day-to-day work of the farm, which will increase from now onward. Thousands of skilled men have left the land in recent years to enter better-paid employment. Even today workers are still being drawn away from farms to work on camps and aerodromes. The wages offered by the contractors are at least £1 a week more than the agricultural rates of pay despite recent increases, and buses collect the men every morning. Who will blame them for deserting the land? But wherever one goes the cry of labour shortage is heard. The remedy lies, some will say, in a national minimum wage of £3 a week, with a corresponding increase in the prices of farm produce. Others will argue that as Army recruiting has proceeded apace, any ' experienced farm workers v)ho we're reservists or territorials should now be released to take their place on the food front. Others pin their faith . to a Government training scheme which would fit boys, and men and women as well, for regular work on the land for the duration of the war. The labour supply certainly demands the attention of the Cabinet. There are only 24 hours in a day and the farmer has only one pair of hands. (See illustration this page).