Wiltshire Archaeological & Natural History Magazine, vol. 95 (2002), pp. 69- 



Agriculture in Wiltshire in the First World War 



by Ivor Slocombe 



The challenges which faced agriculture in Wiltshire during the First World War are examined together with 

 the response, in particular, to the demand for increased production especially of corn crops. Wiltshire was 

 a pioneer in the training of women for farm work while the introduction of mechanisation and the changes 

 in the pattern of land ownership had a lasting impact. Above all, the perception of agriculture and its 

 importance to the economy and society was enhanced by the exposure of the danger of over-reliance on 

 imported food. 



INTRODUCTION 



Food production and the food supply were major 

 issues throughout the First World War. At first it 

 was confidently expected that home agriculture 

 would step up production and imports would be 

 safeguarded through the domination of the seas by 

 the British navy. These expectations, however, were 

 upset from 1916-17 onwards by the success of the 

 German U-boat campaign which very seriously 

 reduced the import of food, especially wheat from 

 the New World. Indeed there was a very real risk in 

 1917-18 that the country would run out of staple 

 foods. 



The first problem to arise, and indeed one which 

 farmers complained loudly about throughout the 

 war, was the lack of manpower. The efforts to solve 

 this involved, from time to time, the campaign to 

 get exemption from conscription for agricultural 

 workers, the early release of boys from school, the 

 training and use of women and the secondment of 

 soldiers to help on the land. Later, as imports of 

 wheat decreased substantially, farmers were 

 required, by compulsion if necessary, to plough up 

 permanent pasture and significantly increase the 

 acreage of arable crops. Although this was often 

 hotly opposed by farmers, the reality was that much 

 of this land had only been put to pasture in the 



1880s when the cheap imports of grain had made 

 much home-grown wheat unviable. 



Wiltshire was affected by all these issues. In 

 addition, the substantial army presence in the county 

 brought its own problems. The large areas taken over 

 for military camps and training decreased the amount 

 of land available for agriculture; the troops based in 

 those camps made large demands on local produce; 

 and the army's need for much civilian labour, 

 especially in building the camps, competed with 

 agriculture for the diminished work force. Finally, 

 the war had a lasting impact on land ownership in 

 the county as many of the large estates were sold 

 and dispersed for both economic and family reasons. 



WILTSHIRE 



AGRICULTURE ON THE 

 OUTBREAK OF WAR 



At the outbreak of the First World War, Wiltshire's 

 agriculture displayed many contrasts. Within the 

 county, there were great differences from area to 

 area but, taking the county as a whole, these 

 differences balanced each other out and the county 

 appeared to be almost exactly average or typical of 

 the country. 



1 1 Belcombe Place, Bradford on Avon, BA15 1NA 



