THE CASE FOR STRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENT IN BRITISH AGRICULTURE

The purpose of this short article is to argue that measures likely to promote structural reform should be given a higher priority in British agricultural policy, and in particular that Government expenditure should be so adjusted that less emphasis is placed on protection and more on the adaptation required to fit the industry for a competitive international environment. This is a question which has been much discussed recently, and it is the aim of this article to summarise the case as it at present appears. British Policy is still too closely tied to the pattern which was devised to meet the problems of the post‐war years. It is clear to all that the present situation differs fundamentally from that which existed between 1945 and 1952. Yet measures which were designed in times of food shortage are still given great emphasis; and though farmers now realise that maximum output with little regard to cost is no longer the aim, no new objective has yet been set. In consequence one sometimes sees a rather confused mixture of measures designed to restrain the growth of output imposed on top of those which were originally intended to raise it: price subsidies are paid with one hand, while quotas or acreage restrictions are imposed with the other. This climate of confusion and uncertainty cannot help in the task of raising the industry's productivity which ought to be the primary aim. The time seems ripe, therefore, for the Government to state clearly the objectives which agriculture should be trying to meet in present circumstances and then to redesign its policy so that priority would be given to measures which are most likely to assist in their attainment.