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THE SEARCH FOR THE COST OF PRODUCTION, 1914‐30
Author(s) -
Whetham Edith H.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.157
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1477-9552
pISSN - 0021-857X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1477-9552.1972.tb01446.x
Subject(s) - agriculture , service (business) , production (economics) , agricultural economics , agricultural productivity , advisory committee , business , agricultural science , economics , management , geography , environmental science , marketing , archaeology , macroeconomics
The Agriculture Act 1920, provided for British fanners from the the the autumn of 1921 guaranteed minimum prices for wheat and oats which were to be adjusted year by year in accordance with changes in ‘the cost of production’ from those recorded for the base year 1919. In preparation for this task, the agricultural departments of the United Kingdom established an Agricultural Costings Committee under a director and deputy director at Whitehall, and with 26 costings officers among the farmers in the counties. And here begins the official research into agricultural economics in this country, as distinct from the academic. For although the Agriculture Act 1920 was repealed in 1921 just before it came into force and the Costings Committee was disbanded at the same time, the collection and analysis of farming costs was soon revived by the institution of the advisory economics service. The present paper describes the events which led up to the Agricultural Costings Committee and the continuing search for ‘the cost of production’ by the agricultural economists in the early days of the advisory service.