STUDIES IN CONTEMPORARY EUROPE In the past quarter of a century European society, and Europe's relations with the rest of the world, have been radically trans formed. Some of these changes came in the wake of the Second World War; others-and in particular the division of Europe followed as a result of the Cold War. In addition, throughout the period other forces, and especially technological change, have been at work to produce a major recasting of the fabric of European society and Europe's role in the world. Many of these changes, together with their attendant problems, have trans cended the political and economic divisions ofthe continent. The purpose of this series is to examine some of the major economic, social and political developments of the past twenty five years in Europe as a whole - both East and West - con sidering the problems and opportunities facing Europe and its citizens today. STUDIES IN CONTEMPORARY EUROPE General Editors: RoY PRYCE and CHRISTOPHER THORNE Published titles AGRICULTURE HUGH D. CLOUT s. RURAL SOCIETIES H. FRANKLIN YOUTH AND SOCIETY F. G. FRIEDMANN EDUCATION JoHN VAizEY In preparation EUROPE AND THE THIRD WORLD SOCIAL STRATIFICATION THE STRUCTURE OF INDUSTRIES THE URBAN EXPLOSION POPULATION MOVEMENTS ECONOMIC PLANNING THE MASS MEDIA CHRISTIAN DEMOCRACY WOMEN IN SOCIETY SOCIAL DEMOCRACY PATTERNS OF CO-OPERATION AND INTEGRATION THE Q.UEST FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH AGRICULTURE HUGH D. CLOUT Department of Geography, University College London Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 978-0-333-12293-8 ISBN 978-1-349-01128-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-01128-5 © Hugh D. Clout 1971 Reprint of the original edition 1971 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission First published 1971 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD London and Basingstoke Associated companies in New York Toronto Dublin Melbourne Johannesburg and Madras SBN 333 12293 3 The paperback edition of this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. CONTENTS List of Diagrams 6 List of Tables 7 Preface and Acknowledgement 8 1 Agriculture in the Changing European Environment The diversity of European agriculture. Post-war recovery. Progress beyond recovery. Fundamental agricultural problems in modern Europe. 9 2 Land Reform and Collectivisation of East European Agriculture Land reform. Collectivisation. National differences in collectivisation. 27 3 Agricultural Change in Western Europe Improving farm incomes; price support, grants and loans. Structural change. Regional manage- ment. 39 4 Farming in the Common Market Towards a Common Agricultural Policy. The problem of agricultural surpluses. The Mansholt Memorandum. 4 7 Postscript 59 Further Reading 60 Index 63 LIST OF DIAGRAMS 1 European crop belts 10 2 World wheat production, 1948-62 15 3 Variation in national average wheat yields, 1950-60 16 4 National average wheat yields, 1960 (kgfha) 17 5 Change in agricultural labour force, 1950-60 18 6 Proportion oflabour force in farming, 1965 19 7 Proportion of Gross Domestic Product (Western Europe) or Net Material Product (Eastern Europe) derived from farming, 1960 23 8 Land occupation by type of farm 26 LIST OF TABLES I Agriculture in Europe (excluding the U.S.S.R.) in 1950 13 2 Value of output per active male in farming, 1955 13 3 Percentage of workers aged fifty years or more in non-agricultural employment and in agricultural employment in Eastern Europe 20 4 Variations in Gross Domestic Product and Gross Agricultural Product at factor cost, 1950-62, 1954 prices 21 5 Percentage of working population in agriculture and percentage of Gross Domestic Product or Net Material Product derived from farming 22 6 Economically non-viable units as percentage of all farms 25 7 Annual rates of decrease in farm numbers and in agricultural population in Western Europe, 1950-60 25 8 Percentage of farm population in Hungary 29 9 Land occupation in Eastern Europe by farm type 30 10 State farms and collectives in Hungary, 1949-61 32 11 Groups benefiting from 1944land reform in Poland 35 12 Collective farms in Poland 35 13 Changes in commodity production in Eastern Eur- ope between 1934--8 and 1959-63 38 14 Percentage of farms under 10 ha in size in West European countries, 1960 43 15 Land reform in Italy, 1962 45 16 Agricultural characteristics of the Common Market countries, 1965 48 17 European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund: Balance to 31 December 1968 51 PREFACE In 1945 European agriculture was faced with the major problem of increasing food production to satisfy her population after years of war-time deprivation. Twenty-five years later the continuing application of science and technology has placed European farmers in the novel predicament of having to cut back production and dispose of surpluses. Governments have intervened in agri cultural organisation with differing degrees of ruthlessness in both Communist and non-Communist countries. They have met with differing degrees of success when the results are considered from political, economic and social points of view. This essay attempts to explore agricultural change in post-war Europe through the particular medium of structural planning and finally points to the problem of trying to decide what should replace farming as an employer of labour and a user of land in the 1970s and beyond. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am indebted to Margaret Thomas for her skilful preparation of the illustrations. Department of Geography, HUGH D. CLOUT University College London, September 1970 1. AGRICULTURE IN THE CHANGING EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT Economic and social life in Europe since 1945 has been charac terised by rapid urbanisation and an expansion of employment in manufacturing and tertiary activities.1 Land which was for merly used for farming has been claimed for factories, roads and housing estates. People who worked the land or might have been expected to do so have moved to better-paid jobs in towns and cities. Advances in science and technology have been appled to all sectors of economic and social life, but, with certain notable exceptions, farming has been subject to more constraints and has been slower to respond than other activities. In many respects agricuhure looks like a loser, but in fact post war farming has been characterised by increasing yields and the continuing substitution of capital for land and labour resources. Scientific advances in agriculture which might theoretically be possible have been subject to many complex constraints stemming from the political, historical, social and economic environment of farming. Governments throughout Europe have intervened to try to overcome these constraints and remodel farming to attain a number of objectives which are sometimes of an ambiguous or even a contradictory nature. It is with these forms of intervention that this essay will be primarily concerned. THE DIVERSITY OF EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE So far only broad generalisations about farming have been made, but unfortunately this is a grossly unrealistic approach since there are many more agricultures in Europe than there are nations, each with its own characteristics at any given moment in time and each sharing in and contributing to the changing pattern of Euro pean farming over the past quarter of a century. Agricultural diversity results from numerous factors, of which only a few may be mentioned here. First, there is the complex physical environ- See the essay in this series by T. B. Bottomore on Social Strati 1 fication. 9