Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (United Kingdom)
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (November 2009) |
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) was a
Until the
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Dissolution) Order 2002 | |
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Statutory Instrument | |
Other legislation | |
Made under | Ministers of the Crown Act 1975 |
Text of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Dissolution) Order 2002 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
It was merged with the part of the
Background
The Board of Agriculture, which later become the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF), was established under the
A significant predecessor of the second Board of Agriculture (later MAFF) was the Tithe Commission, which was set up in 1841 under the
Another predecessor was the
Board of Agriculture
Board of Agriculture Act 1889 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 12 August 1889 |
Other legislation | |
Amended by |
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Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Text of the Board of Agriculture Act 1889 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
The Board of Agriculture Act 1889, passed on 12 August, established the Board of Agriculture and combined all government responsibilities for agricultural matters in one department. The first President of the new Board was the Rt. Hon. Henry Chaplin, there were 90 members of staff and the first annual estimate was for £55,000. From 1892 to 1913, its secretary, the most senior civil servant, was Sir Thomas Elliott.
Board of Agriculture and Fisheries Act 1903 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Status: Amended | |
Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Text of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries Act 1903 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
The board took responsibility for the
In 1904, the board appointed honorary agricultural correspondents throughout the country to liaise with the Board on Regional Matters and to give advice to farmers. In 1911, responsibility for all agricultural matters in
Meanwhile, the country was increasingly becoming dependent on imported food. By 1914, the output of home-grown food only met one-third of the country's needs.
First World War
The
In December 1916, a Ministry of Food was created under the
The Corn Production Act 1917 guaranteed minimum prices for wheat and oats, specified a minimum wage for agricultural workers and established the Agricultural Wages Board, to ensure stability for farmers and a share of this stability for agricultural workers. The aim was to increase output of home-grown food and reduce dependence on imports.
In June 1917, Lord Devonport resigned as Food Controller to be replaced by
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Act 1919 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 23 December 1919 |
Status: Amended | |
Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Text of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Act 1919 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Act 1919 (
During this period, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries remained a small department concerned with pest and disease control, agricultural research and education, improvement of livestock, and provision of allotments and smallholdings. Over the next few years, its workload grew.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s the government introduced new measures to support domestic agriculture and farmers' income. Subsidies or price insurance schemes were created for sugar beet, wheat, cattle, dairy and sheep. The Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marketing) Act 1928 promoted the standardisation of grades and packaging and introduced the "National Mark", a trade mark denoting home-produced food of a defined quality for eggs, beef, apples and pears. The Agricultural Marketing Acts of 1931 and 1933 sought to organise farmers into co-operative marketing associations and created Marketing Boards for bacon, pigs, hops, milk and potatoes. The Import Duties Act 1932 introduced a tariff on most imports including fruit and vegetables and quotas on imports of bacon, ham and other meat products. In 1936 the tithe rent charge was abolished, compensation paid to the Church and the money recovered from farmers over a 60-year period. In 1937 a scheme was introduce to subsidise the spreading of lime on agricultural land to boost the fertility of the soil. The Food (Defence Plans) Department was established in 1937 and was then constituted as the Ministry of Food on the outbreak of war in 1939.[3] The Minister of Agriculture was given powers to regulate the cultivation and management of land, end tenancies, even take possession of land, under the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939. On 1 September 1939 many of these powers were delegated to county War Agricultural Executive Committees ("War Ags").
Second World War
The
Recruiting began for the Women's Land Army and, in 1940, food rationing was introduced. Lord Woolton succeeded William Morrison as Minister for Food. In 1941, the US Lend-Lease Act was passed under which food, agricultural machinery and equipment was sent from the US to the UK.
Post-war era
The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Ministry of Food were merged in 1955, becoming the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. In the 1970s, the IRA detonated some explosives in front of the Ministry of Agriculture building in Whitehall.[5]
See also
- Forestry Commission
- Lobbying in the United Kingdom
- Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
- Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet
- Arthur Young
References and notes
- ISBN 978-0-226-69710-9.
- ISBN 978-0-226-69710-9.
- ^ The National Archives, class BT60
- ISBN 978-0-226-69710-9.
- TheGuardian.com. 9 March 2009. Archivedfrom the original on 29 October 2023.
- Sinclair, J. (1796). Account of the Origin of the Board of Agriculture and its progress for three years after its establishment. London: W. Bulmer and Co.
- Ernle, Lord (1956). "Chapter XIX The War and State Control, 1914–1918". In Hall, G. (ed.). English Farming Past and Present (5th ed.). London: Longmans, Green and Co. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015 – via Soil And Health Library.
- Foreman, S. (1991). Loaves and Fishes, an illustrated history of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 1889–1999. London: MAFF.
- Debate on draft Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Dissolution) Order 2002, Fifth Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation, 22 January 2002.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 421–423.