FOR farmers in this country worrying about the uncertainty of their future, imagine a country where food production is so important that the government records not only the area of land in production but also every acre that is lost to agriculture – that is land going under concrete or bitumen or being used for opencast mining.
If the wonder is that no such country ever existed, it proves how short our memories are, as that was the situation in Scotland until the 1970s.
Looking forward to a year where there are concerns over falling production, it is instructive to
read the annual report of Agriculture in Scotland in 1969.
The authors express their concern that, for the first time since the Second World War, the land in Scotland under crop fell to below 1.5 million acres. Forty years on, the area of ploughed up land has slipped further to just over 1.3 million acres, excluding set-aside.
Production per acre has increased in the past four decades. In 1969, the average yield for wheat was under two tonnes per acre, a figure that has since been doubled. A similar tale is seen in the potato statistics, with 104,000 acres being grown 40 years ago and averaging less than ten tonnes per acre. Compare that with the 71,240 acres grown in 2007 but where the tonnage per acre was almost double that. And while only 8,600 tonnes of seed potatoes were exported in 1969, some 65,000 tonnes left these shores after the 2007 harvest.
The report also highlights the transformation that we see in the Scottish soft fruit industry. Today, the majority of fruit growers use polythene tunnels in their production of raspberries for the fresh market. Even when the outside acreage is added, there are only about 1,000 acres of raspberries now grown in Scotland. In 1969 there were nearly 8,000 acres of raspberries being grown, with most heading for the jam or processing markets.
The Scottish beef herd has actually risen by a quarter in the past four decades and the number of ewes has also increased, by about 10 per cent. The pig industry has slipped back by 10 per cent, but there are now more than twice the number of broiler chickens being kept than 40 years ago.
Away from the actual production, the striking aspect to the report is the almost universal support given to agriculture in those days.
The main subsidy in those pre-EU days was based on guaranteed prices for products and if the market price fell below the guarantee, the government made up the difference – prices being decided at the Annual Price Review.
There were grants for the ploughing up of land, especially land that had been under grass for more than 12 years. Some 50,000 acres were turned over in that scheme and the farmers received £12 per acre for doing so.
There were grants for carrying out drainage so that land could be improved. On low ground the grant could be 50 per cent of cost, and this rose to 70 per cent on hill ground. Some 2,700 applications were made to this fund and £8 million was paid out of the public purse.
Ironically, some of the land that received this support is now being allowed to revert to nature.
There were grants for fertilisers so that maximum production could be achieved. Most of the support in 1969 went towards lime. Some 800,000 tonnes were applied in that one year, with the taxpayer contributing some £1.2m. And there were grants for new machinery, with farmers buying new tractors and combines receiving 15 per cent of the cost. Farm building and fixed equipment were also subsidised, up to 12.5 per cent, as the government wanted to see a modern, well-equipped industry.
Throughout Scotland there were also 24 private fox destruction clubs and some of these received public cash to help them in their efforts.
Finally, the report noted that 21 people had died working in agriculture in Scotland in 1969. Most of these were related to accidents with machinery. The figure for the whole of the UK for 2008 was 42.
