Economic and Marketing Information for Indiana Farmers, v. 01, no. 06 (Dec. 1947) |
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FOR INDIANA FARMERS INFORMATION Volume 1, No. 6 Lafayette, Indiana December, 1947 Prepared by members of the Agricultural Staff of Purdue University LOW PRODUCTION LEVEL EUROPE'S TROUBLE By E. L. BUTZ, L. S. HARDIN and E. C. YOUNG HOW LONG can we expect the European demand for American food to continue is the question that many Hoosier farmers and farm leaders have asked us since our return from Europe a few weeks ago. The answer to this question is that the European demand for food is practically unlimited as long as we give it to them. It makes no difference whether the transfer is called a grant, loan, lend lease or some term yet to be coined. The European nations to which we are currently shipping food have very few, if any, dollars with which to pay for it. Worse still, they have very few exportable surplus items the United States will buy so that they can get funds to use in payment for food. It should not be inferred from the preceding paragraph that Europe does not need food this winter. It does. However, the tight food situation in Europe results more from unfavorable crop years in 1945 and 1947 than it does from the war or lack of effort on the part of the European farmer. Europe had a relatively good crop year in 1946, and was making fairly rapid recovery toward supplying her own food needs. In fact, livestock numbers had begun to increase in many parts of western Europe. This is always an indication that an easier feed and food situation exists. Situation Serious In France Progress toward recovery in food production, however, was interrupted sharply by the worst winter in 1946-47 and the driest summer in 1947 that Europe has experienced in many years. In France, for example, last winter's worst freeze In 50 years destroyed much of the wheat that had been planted in the fall. This was followed by the driest summer In a century and a half. Consequently, the 1947 wheat crop was only about 40 per cent as large as anticipated. This is England's narrow hedge-bordered roads, small fields, and extravagant use of labor appear inefficient by American standards. especially serious in view of the fact that bread normally constitutes from 40 to 50 per cent of the French diet. As a result of the wheat shortage, the official bread ration in France now stands at 200 grams per person per day. This is a little stick of bread about two inches in diameter and six inches long. Moreover, the bread is very dark in color and low in quality. Frenchmen grumble a lot about the quantity and quality of the bread they are getting. Livestock Industry Depends On Feed Imports The agricultural plant of western Europe is largely intact, and will respond quickly if the weather is favorable next year. The war did little damage to the agricultural plant except in relatively small areas of Holland, which were flooded, and in small sections of eastern France and western Germany where intensive fighting occurred. European farmers need more fertilizer and could use more machinery. To an American observer, agriculture on the Continent appears to be exceedingly inefficient. Most units are small and the level of mechanization is low. However, this has always been true. Livestock farmers now need more feed concentrates, particularly oil cake. The livestock industry in the low countries and in England was based, before the war, on large imports of feedstuffs. Because of the difficulty of obtaining large shipments of feed recently, the poultry and pig populations have been reduced materially. However, the dairy population has recovered rapidly from the war years. British People Well Nourished There is little meat or fat in the English diet. The British people are rather rigidly rationed on food. It was our impres- (Turn to next page)
Object Description
Title | Economic and Marketing Information for Indiana Farmers, v. 01, no. 06 (Dec. 1947) |
Purdue Identification Number | UA14-13-econ194712 |
Date of Original | 1947 |
Publisher | Purdue University. Agricultural Extension Service |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Farm produce--Indiana--Marketing Agriculture--Economic aspects--Indiana |
Genre | Periodical |
Collection Title | Extension Economic & Marketing Information (Purdue University. Agricultural Extension) |
Rights | Copyright Purdue University. All rights reserved. |
Coverage | United States - Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Date Digitized | 02/26/2015 |
Digitization Specifications | Original scanned at 400 ppi on a BookEye 3 scanner using Opus software. Display images generated in Contentdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
URI | UA14-13-econ194712.tif |
Description
Title | Economic and Marketing Information for Indiana Farmers, v. 01, no. 06 (Dec. 1947) |
Purdue Identification Number | UA14-13-econ194712 |
Transcript | FOR INDIANA FARMERS INFORMATION Volume 1, No. 6 Lafayette, Indiana December, 1947 Prepared by members of the Agricultural Staff of Purdue University LOW PRODUCTION LEVEL EUROPE'S TROUBLE By E. L. BUTZ, L. S. HARDIN and E. C. YOUNG HOW LONG can we expect the European demand for American food to continue is the question that many Hoosier farmers and farm leaders have asked us since our return from Europe a few weeks ago. The answer to this question is that the European demand for food is practically unlimited as long as we give it to them. It makes no difference whether the transfer is called a grant, loan, lend lease or some term yet to be coined. The European nations to which we are currently shipping food have very few, if any, dollars with which to pay for it. Worse still, they have very few exportable surplus items the United States will buy so that they can get funds to use in payment for food. It should not be inferred from the preceding paragraph that Europe does not need food this winter. It does. However, the tight food situation in Europe results more from unfavorable crop years in 1945 and 1947 than it does from the war or lack of effort on the part of the European farmer. Europe had a relatively good crop year in 1946, and was making fairly rapid recovery toward supplying her own food needs. In fact, livestock numbers had begun to increase in many parts of western Europe. This is always an indication that an easier feed and food situation exists. Situation Serious In France Progress toward recovery in food production, however, was interrupted sharply by the worst winter in 1946-47 and the driest summer in 1947 that Europe has experienced in many years. In France, for example, last winter's worst freeze In 50 years destroyed much of the wheat that had been planted in the fall. This was followed by the driest summer In a century and a half. Consequently, the 1947 wheat crop was only about 40 per cent as large as anticipated. This is England's narrow hedge-bordered roads, small fields, and extravagant use of labor appear inefficient by American standards. especially serious in view of the fact that bread normally constitutes from 40 to 50 per cent of the French diet. As a result of the wheat shortage, the official bread ration in France now stands at 200 grams per person per day. This is a little stick of bread about two inches in diameter and six inches long. Moreover, the bread is very dark in color and low in quality. Frenchmen grumble a lot about the quantity and quality of the bread they are getting. Livestock Industry Depends On Feed Imports The agricultural plant of western Europe is largely intact, and will respond quickly if the weather is favorable next year. The war did little damage to the agricultural plant except in relatively small areas of Holland, which were flooded, and in small sections of eastern France and western Germany where intensive fighting occurred. European farmers need more fertilizer and could use more machinery. To an American observer, agriculture on the Continent appears to be exceedingly inefficient. Most units are small and the level of mechanization is low. However, this has always been true. Livestock farmers now need more feed concentrates, particularly oil cake. The livestock industry in the low countries and in England was based, before the war, on large imports of feedstuffs. Because of the difficulty of obtaining large shipments of feed recently, the poultry and pig populations have been reduced materially. However, the dairy population has recovered rapidly from the war years. British People Well Nourished There is little meat or fat in the English diet. The British people are rather rigidly rationed on food. It was our impres- (Turn to next page) |
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