Leave farmers to produce food

Seventy years ago, the Goverment promised farmers that it would help them 'wring the last ounce of food from the land'. Will we hear those words again?

- By Douglas Chalmers

In the past week, many of us will have taken part in Remembrance ceremonies in which the words 'saviours of the nation' will have been heard. These 'saviours' were originally Britain's farmers during the First World War, although the then government's initial gratitude only lasted until the repeal of the Corn Production Act in 1921. This action was known as 'the great betrayal', which was compounded by removing the import ban on Canadian cattle in 1922. With some exceptions, farming entered an extended period of depression and lack of investment. Even the gathering of the next war's storm clouds didn't focus the government's mind on food security.

In 1936, the money for agricultural war preparations came to a total of seven shillings (35p) per head of population; by July 1938, the Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was publicly stressing Britain's reliance on imported food. The country's closeness to starvation during the Second World War was as much down to this lack of investment as it was to Hitler's U-boats. This is partly why rationing continued well after the war ended and why the then Government started backing farmers once again.