Britain: An official handbook > 1966

33°
Agricultural
Production
Food Supplies
TABLE 18
Percentage of
Total Food
Supplies in the
United Kingdom
Provided by
Home Agriculture
BRITAIN: AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
slightly, chiefly owing to larger dairy herds; sheep and poultry stocks
declined; and the number of pigs fell by more than half.
The steady expansion in productivity which has taken place over the last 25
years is summarised in Table 19. Cattle and sheep stocks increased between
1953 and 1961, but numbers are now tending to remain stable. The number
of pigs and poultry has shown a sharp increase. Output of wheat has shown
only small variations, although the trend has been upward; but that of barley
doubled between 1947 and i960 and has since almost doubled again to 7-4
million tons. There has been a marked fall in the acreage under oats while
a smaller but significant drop in that under potatoes appears to have become
stabilised. Between 1954 and 1964, output of pigmeat and eggs increased by
49 and 51 per cent respectively; this, together with the increase in the sales
of milk off farms, is in part attributable to the increased import of feedingstuffs
in recent years. It is estimated that about 5^ million tons of concentrates
were imported in 1964-65, about double the imports of twelve years earlier,
and a further i-8 million tons were available as by-products of imported
grain and oil-seeds.
The index of agricultural output at constant prices has risen steadily. By
I953-54 ^ was about 56 per cent above the immediate pre-war average.
Using the average of 1954-55 to 1956-57=100 as basis, it reached 112 in
1959-60, 125 in 1962-63 and 127 in 1963-64; 137 is forecast for 1964-65.
Since 1939 the population of the United Kingdom has increased by 6 million,
or about one-eighth. In spite of this growth Britain now produces about half
of its total food requirements or two-thirds of all that can be grown in temper¬
ate climates; this latter figure comparing with about one-half before the
second world war. The percentages by weight of total supplies of the
principal foods provided by home production in relation to the pre-war
average are shown in Table 18.
Food Product
Pre-war
average
1951
1963
1964
(prov.)
Wheat and flour (as wheat equivalent)
Oils and fats (crude oil equivalent)
Sugar (refined value) . .
Carcase meat and offal. .
Bacon and ham (excluding canned)
Butter . .
Cheese . .
Condensed milk
Dried milk (whole and skimmed)
Shell eggs
Milk for human consumption (as liquid)
Potatoes for human consumption
23
16
17
51
32
9
24
70
59
71
100
96
33
10
23
65
49
4
18
63
43
86
100
98
41
13
23
69
38
10
43
95
56
97
100
93
47
10
27
69
38
6
42
95
40
98
100
95
Source : Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Table 20 shows how, for selected items, total food supplies have changed
since before the second world war and in the past 13 years. The main trends
reflected in the table are that consumption of bulky foods (carbohydrates),
such as flour and potatoes, has been declining almost uninterruptedly, while