Transactions of RHASS Volume 1940 - Page 014
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| Year | 1940 |
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- EM. 1 i ,ilc - 'llliilis l 1m" i, ( mm"i I up ,1, v um. i in" Hu ,9) 5+5.« 16 STOCK-FEEDIN G UNDER WAR CONDITIONS. By PROFESSOR J A. SCOTT \VATSON, University of Oxford. UNDER present conditions the stock—feeder is faced with many difficult problems. - This paper does not attempt to cover them all, but deals with some of: the more general points, and also attempts to make particular suggestions about the feeding of sheep and pigs. It is well known that our herds and flocks, in normal times, depend to a considerable extent upon supplies of imported feeding—stuffs. The extent of this dependence was fully discussed by Dr Norman C. Wright in the ‘Transactions’ for 1938 (Vol. L.), and the reader may consult that article for detailed facts and figures. Briefly, the position in peace time (the figures are for 1935) was that Great Britain produced fully three-quarters of its total requirements of stock food, reckoned in terms of actual food values. Our home produce was, however, very largely in the form of pasture grass, roots, hay, straw, and other relatively bulky foods, and by far the greater part of our requirements in the way of con- centrates was met by imports. Dr Wright’s figures for supplies of concentrated feeding-stuffs were :— Millions of Tons. Home-grown cereals, including wheat offals . . 2-97 Imported maize and maize products . . . 2-97 Imported cereals other than maize, including wheat offals . . . . . . . . 3-04 Imported oil-seeds and oil-cakes . . . . 1-73 Total . . . 10-71 Thus, in terms of total quantities, we produced at home only 27 per cent of the concentrates fed to our stock, and imported the remaining 73 per cent, or nearly three-fourths. This figure is not materially altered if we calculate in terms of food values (starch equivalent and protein equivalent). As regards the distribution of total concentrates between the different types of stock, Dr Wright’s figures are as - mm. -:«- <- <_,.;..‘ « ‘ -- STOCK-FEEDING UNDER WAR CONDITIONS. 17 follows; they are reckoned in terms of energy values (starch equivalents). Consumption of Concentrates Percentage of (Millions of Tons of Total. Starch Equivalent). Dairy cattle 1-06 15-4 Beef cattle . 1-07 15-5 Sheep 0-94 13-6 Horses 0-57 8-3 Pigs . 1-62 23-4 Poultry 1-65 23-8 Total . . . 6-91 100-0 The large consumption by pigs and poultry, and the small consumption by sheep, are noteworthy. Stock owners are already painfully aware of the difficulty of making do with restricted amounts of imported feeding- stuffs, and are fully alive to the necessity of making their farms more self-supporting. If war-time imports could be predicted with any certainty, farmers would know where they stood, and would be able, each for himself, to draw up a plan of action. Unfortunately there are so many uncer- tainties in the outlook that any such detailed planning is out of the question. There may be more or less interference with our shipping, either in port or on the high seas, while other imports, in greater or less amount, may have to take precedence over feeding-stuffs. Again, the longer the war continues the more necessary will it become to conserve our supplies of foreign credit—$16., money rather than shipping may become the main consideration. All that we can safely assume is that imports of feeding-stuffs will remain below normal until some time after the conclusion of peace. It is probable, also, that feeding-stuff prices will remain, for some time after the war, at levels considerably higher than those to which we have been accustomed in recent years. Finally our agriculture, like every other department of the national industry, must be planned on the assumption that the war may be long, and on the principle of erring on the safe side. It is perhaps worth speculating about the relative scarcity that may be expected in each of the two main classes of foods—ic, the starchy foods such as maize and barley on the one hand and, on the other, the protein-rich foods such as the common oil—cakes. The former are imported mainly for stock-feeding purposes rather than for manufacture. VOL. LII. B laws-s Wifi'fl" I"? |
| Title | Transactions of RHASS Volume 1940 - Page 014 |
