The agricultural output of England and Wales 1925

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1757028552

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-135495

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: The agricultural output of England and Wales 1925

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: Stat. Off.

Year of publication:: 1927

Scope:: XV, 152 Seiten; graph. Darst., Kt.

Digitisation:: 2021

Collection:: Economics Books

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Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter XI. Agricultural prices

Collection:: Economics Books

120 a The comparatively small rise in barley prices was accounted for partly, if not mainly, by a decline in the quantity used for brewing. It was accompanied by a fall in the area under barley, which appears to have been one of the chief factors in the general decline of the arable acreage which occurred during this period, notwithstanding that prices were rising. On the other hand, the relatively small increase in the price of potatoes did not result in any diminution in the acreage under this crop. Generally, however, the period was one of gradual recovery from the depres- sion of the previous two decades, From the point of view of the effect on production since the last Census was taken, the most important price movements are those which have occurred in the three periods beginning with 1914. The six years 1914 to 1920 experienced the sharpest rise in agricultural prices for which there are statistical records, * the rise being almost identical with the general movement of com- modity prices (see Diagram VII). This movement coincided with a period of great prosperity in which a substantial increase in food production was secured. Two factors arising out of the rapid upward movement of prices contributed to this prosperity. The first was the interval of time covered by most agricultural operations, so that between the time when the farmer laid out his money in certain of the costs of production and the time when the crops or products were sold in the market, the general level of prices had risen. The second was that certain costs of pro- duction did not advance so rapidly as did the prices of agricultural commodities. For example, wages, though they increased very considerably between 1914 and 1920.1 always lagoed behind the rise in agricultural prices. Statistics are not available of the movement of rentg during bhis period, but no general advance of rents took place during the early years of the war, and it is believed that the total average rise in rents was very small in comparison with the rise in agricul- tural prices. On the other hand, the area of agricultural land sold increased during the period, particularly towards 1920, and the price paid was usually higher than it would have been if valued on the basis of the rent paid prior to 1914. The remaining items in the cost of production which it is possible to measure to some extent statistically are feeding stuffs and fertilisers, the prices of which can be compared by means of index numbers with the prices of agricultural products. The prices of imported feeding stuffs rose more rapidly during the period 1914-1920 than did agricultural prices owing to the * See Table 37 in Part ITT of Agricultural Statistics, 1924, which shows the index numbers of the prices of agricultural commodities since 1906. T Statistics of wages so far ag they are available are given in Table 30 in the Appendix. As explained in the footnote to this Table the hours of work from 1917 onwards were less than in 1914.

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