A Discussion on agricultural productivity in the 1980s - Farming structure in Britain

• Published in: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 1973-12, Vol.267 (882), p.23-36
• Main Author: Walston, Lord
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0080-4622; 2054-0280
• DOI: 10.1098/rstb.1973.0058

The decisive factors determining farming structure are, in the long run, economic, but social factors are increasingly involved. In the medium term, political considerations are however of greater importance. The significance of these considerations for the 1980s will be discussed. The typical holding in Britain is likely to grow in size, though no great growth of big farming business is anticipated. There will be a development in small-scale factory farming, possibly in association with large vertically integrated businesses. The continual demand for cheap food will operate against less intensive and less specialized production. The post-war trend towards owner-occupancy will be reversed, and the new landlords will increasingly be institutions acquiring agricultural land as part of a large portfolio. New arrangements between private landlords and tenants will be instituted which will mean a move towards partnership, and tenant capital will be available from new sources such as institutional landlords, cooperative credit arrangements and the Agricultural Mortgage Corporation. There will be an expansion in agricultural cooperation both for buying and selling, and for the use of machinery, where private contractors will also play a larger part. Finally, much greater contact between urban and rural workers must be envisaged, with villages no longer inhabited mainly by farmers and farm workers. Protection of the environment for the enjoyment of all and ready access to the countryside will become increasingly the duty of the farmer.