A Promise to the Farmers
Although the Government is confident that the enemy threat to our shipping will be dealt with, none the less the calls of the war upon cargo-space are increasing, and it would be the extreme of folly not to make certain of a greater yield from home agriculture so that we can reduce the flow of food imports. It is imperative that British farming should be more productive in 1941 than in 1940. What is needed is that the farmer should be able to look ahead with confidence, and to be sure that there will not be a sudden slump when hostilities end Mr. Hudson will have done much to promote confidence his promise on Tuesday that the Government will guarantc.: the present system of fixed prices and an assured mark:i throughout the war and for at least a year after. Farmers mint be able. to look to the future, and this undertaking will remove their fear that after the war imported goods will suddenly good the market and that they will be left in the lurch. They can now go ahead with plans of expanded production, looking forward not merely to an interim policy which will ensure war- time profit, but to an adequate breathing-space after the war for dealing with the permanent problems of home agriculture.
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