Farming change in Britain

Farming Change in the Britain
In the middle of the 20th century, the world was at war. This second war involved much of Europe in the conflict. Britain was confronted with the very real possible outcome of starvation. German submarines were able to harass British ships carrying food and supplies to the mainland. The reason this was so much of a national threat was that Britain still relied on food imports(in surplus).It was a period of deceptive stability for Britain, even though they were able to go on to win the war, the problem of food supplies that the countries had been faced with, was not forgotten. Politicians decided to make a legislation aimed to make Britain self sufficient, (meaning they would never need to rely on other countries for food)

It was a bold move that had the potential to decrease international relations with the food exporters. But nonetheless, it proved to be a wise one. Agricultural advancement was a top priority, so the government of England began introducing a system which effectively gave the farmers of Britain 'grants'. The government also guaranteed to pay a minimum price for crops and produce. This was the decision that marked the turning point in the British agricultural industry. Farming was now a profitable business, as with a guaranteed minimum price, the agricultural market could no longer plummet as it had done in the past. A new generation of farming was born from this, one that required only one man to work a field, rather than "a hundred strong" army of workers. Because of this new industry for farming, there was now a market for agricultural machinery (the most famous of machines being the tractor) an industry for agricultural chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides. Farmers' unions were now uneeded, for there was less need for more than 10 men to a farm. Farming in Britain had become a business. By the mid 60's, food production soared. Britain, without realizing it, was actually producing food in abundance.

The physical properties of the actual farmland began to change; lush hedgerows were dismembered and turned into tiny lines going off into the horizon. Field size dramatically increased as farmers adopted a strategy of merging old fields to maximize profits, which previously had not been achievable. The terms 'butter mills' and 'milk lakes' are derivative from this agricultural boom. On one such occasion, England managed to produce 10 million tonnes of wheat in excess in one year.

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