I lost my dad last autumn , he was born in 1939. He would have loved watching this but we'd have had to watch 5 times because he'd be reminiscing about the tractors and agricultural practices of the time! Great stuff.
Reclaiming from nature considered not the thing anymore. I remember the farm I worked on made a major investment in tile drains. Recently I saw a documentary where a conservation trust were gleefully ripping them out. I'm all for nature conservation but I feel extremely uneasy about the run down in agricultural production in the UK. It only takes a generation to lose skills and productive land. The pressures on land use currently, may well raise some major issues in the near future.
I agree totally, we will find ourselves unable to produce any kind of produce and rely on "dodgy" countries who can pull the plug at any time, This country's governments have left us wide open it would not surprise me to see ration books some time in the future.
@@JohnAsmith-rw6uo Yes you would think a Country's main goal was to provide basic food stuffs,but it appears they'd rather buy from whoever is willing to let them have it!
Hi from a crusty Irish farmer. Love your channel always. I note that you have a “thing“ about the interaction of aristocratic land owner and farmer, and how it has changed. I am always a bit puzzled at the differences with Ireland, where the land ownership structure changed much more rapidly and earlier than in England. I guess the Gladstone, Ashbourne, and Wyndham acts which were a response to what may be called “land activism” provided the impetus. A book that I know will interest you is by Samuel Hussey. It’s called, I think The reminisces of an Irish land Agent. It is mostly usual Irish R.M twaddle but has fascinating piece on Irish land and rent values and their changes. Sam ended up leaving Ireland for England perhaps influenced by an unfortunate explosion at his residence, but he was a remarkably shrewd guy in his day. All the best.
I shall have a look, thankyou. I have wondered about Ireland as the little I was taught about feudalism there suggested the social hierarchy was based around ownership of cattle rather than land as. Something to explore in the future. Thanks for watching!
Great content, much of the footage is 50s rather than wartime but still an era of 'dig for victory ' and to farm every inch. Vast swathes of parkland went under the gyrotiller. Huge progress was made in plant breeding, crop protection and mechanisation post war. We are now in retrograde with land out of production, rewilded or crops hampered by pests and weather. Its a return to the 1930s.
Oli, if you aren't quite ready next week, you can show this again. We have only watched it twice and you have watched it about thirty times over, so we have some catching up to do. Joking aside, I really look forward to the history and politics of mechanisation.
I think this film must date from about 1941, since the Ford Ferguson 9N is on rubber tyres as opposed to the steel wheel spec that came in around 1942, to save materials required for the war effort. Also, all those Massey Harris 21 combines are constructed from galvanised sheet metal as the first ones were, when said combine was introduced in 1941. Later versions were simply painted red all over, with yellow wheel centres, but I have no information on when the colour change took place.
Very interesting as an Australian been 5th generation as my great great grandfather came in 1850 to Australian. In that time if you look at cropping it wasn't until post WW2 which machinery come into affect because cost of machinery as Pa like other Australians were still running horses but we did have tractor in 1940?, most land had been clear or i say clean up. Although grandad mum side his farming land was developed with irrigation scheme post WW2 settlement. I remember Pa telling me that my father n his brother had farming equipment they needed to farm into future. I told Pa to keep farming they need be more efficient that farming equipment we have was going out to date as i could see room for improvement, gps/computers getting more advanced. In 2001 to 2002 we had drought, rainfall for year was 9inches we lost on canola n 10 bags/acres with wheat. Fast forward around 2013 with year drought roughly 7 inches of rainfall for those few years and crops were better off because family upgrade machinery, practice was still same. To say minimal tilling like sowing between last year crop stubble works but there trades off with build up of pest/diseases careful management is needed not specialised farm equipment gain better results. This is where we are getting close to perfection, running big seeders the cost of wear n tear is not sustainable like big combines n machinery soil compaction is creeping in especially do more soil work to get soil back into right condition.
You say the machines destroying nature is seen as a sin today but was celebrated at the time. Yet this is exactly what inspired JRR Tolkien to create Isengard, a land of machines destroying nature
Made me think of the upcoming improvements that we'll see in our lifetime. I think drones will play a huge role; not just for spraying, but for sowing and harvesting too.
Love how they couldn't get men who'd actually used a scythe to do the scythe scene... when you're handling grain you use a cradle on the scythe... we've used cradles on them for thousands of years. The cradle is a fan of sticks and twine that collects the cut stalks into a 'ream' to lay in a windrow, not in a jumble of trash on the stubble.
Interesting stuff. Hayami & Ruttan (1985, 2nd edn. pp.78-81) suggest that the innovative scythe with cradle was introduced to North America towards the end of the colonial period (ie 1780s) about doubled the per worker output to about 1 acre a day (2 man operation, 1 cutter and 1 binder), whilst in response to an expanding frontier induced further innovations eg patenting of the horse-drawn reaper in the 1830s, in widespread usage by 1850, about further doubled labor productivity etc. Not sure where the idea of a scythe-with cradle being sourced in antiquiy is sourced from. Can you kindly elaborate please. The 1943 film looks more like war time propaganda than an accurate representation of the wartime state of agricultural mechanisation in the UK. In any event they used 'free' German POWs to help hand-pull fibre crops at harvest time. A fine application of the 'arbeit macht frei' principle for sure!
I think at the time, they were great advancements, but as of today, farmers need to be even more versatile. Some of the best farmers I know are also well versed in soil microbiology. And I may be biased because it was my degree, but computer science might be another area that might be extremely helpful to know.
Although a great advancement in ag was made it was at the cost of soil health Nature and production can both be improved with good stewardship I still think rebuilding is a farce
I'd be very interested to know who made the effort to create this film, who for, and why. The narrator sounds extremely posh to me (as I guess all narrators did back then), but i don't know if that signifies anything... Another interesting thing is how in the modern age of extremely high tech farming equipment, I imagine that the individual farmer must be increasingly excluded from this kind of creative involvement in the development of the technology they are using. And maybe from the ownership of it, given that that stuff must be eye-wateringly expensive?
This was wartime. It's propaganda, I'd guess from the Ministry of Information (the British Council stamp being a clue) aimed at reassuring the public that they will not starve. The "posh voice" is Freddie Grisewood, a well-known (at the time) BBC announcer and presenter who chaired "Any Questions" on the radio into the late 1960s. The voice and the message shows how much the British Establishment has changed in my lifetime.
Actually there's a broader interesting question about where the capital comes from for all the very fun sounding modern farming tech, and how that impacts an individual land-owning farmer versus a larger company that employs farmers... The balance of power between these two modes of farming is very interesting!
@@onehairybuddha That was a helpful clue that led me to this on their website... "During the Second World War, we begin the production of 120 British films aimed at showcasing modern Britain and counteracting Nazi propaganda." It would be interesting to know what Nazi propaganda it would be contradicting.
The exclusion of the farmer is more a reflection of the corporate business model and IP law than anything inherent to "high tech". Granted I doubt farmers will be funding their own satellites any time soon, but the purposeful restrictions on farmers making their own modifications and repairs has been a large impetus for the right to repair. I've seen open source farm equipment (no idea of how good it is), so I can imagine a future where farmers roll their own equipment and complain about forums being snooty.
all those people and machines going to work for "home food production" (not , i imagine, for international export. and not yet for the enrichment of the chemical companies and commodity brokers. I think that came after the war. but i digress)
I'd love one of those predictable 1940's seasons, no amount of power helps when there's no traction, still we'll keep subsoiling and draining till people need calories
All that 'conquering of nature' ended with a great reduction of the numbers of farmers ( that was hardly a blessing, especially for those farmers who had to give up their farms ) and on a broader scale has brought us climate change, which will have and already has catastrophic consequences for many people. There are two sides to progress, but there is only one truth about nature: it is not a negotiation partner and reacts without consideration of human desires.
With the advent of farming larger civilisations became possible. However the nutrition it produced caused a decrease in the average size of both body and brain, in the region of 11-17%. See Anthropology. Also caries in the teeth, resistance to disease, etc. The proper human diet (PHD) is keto-carnivore (from fatty ruminants) which move, feed, breed themselves and need little _'conquering"._ The biggest equipment needed would be a farm donkey to help move mineral feeders, carry temp posts, etc. Or an ATV for the impatient. The human contribution: composting for soil enhancement, rotating the stock in small temporary paddocks, calming the herd/flock (to get fatter); and enjoying the peace. The Elite lifestyle.
How does this make any sense when the average height and weight of humans has only increased dramatically in the past 100 years? Some of the healthiest populations of people and longest lived have a diet that is 85% carbohydrates. Keep off the narratives, the truth is Humans are extremely adaptable in conditions and in diet, saying one diet is better than another unequivocally (aside from UPF's and processed meats which are known carcinogens) is to close off possibilities that are available.
@@ryanbentley1965 The Anthropological records are there for you to examine. Recent size and longevity 'improvements' could be attributed to the expansion of knowledge: in medicine, logistics (capitalism), cleaner living spaces, etc. The entire array of Western 'magic'. Those on the keto-carnivore diet that get themselves to the point that they become 'fat-adapted' (diet plus regular hard exercise) become the healthiest, clear-headed and most energetic of us all.
@@peterclark6290 Anthropological records are there for people to examine, not me. I don't have access to these records, only the studies done on these records. By the way, Logistics and Cleaner living spaces are not to be attributed to capitalism, capitalism is an economic ideology and is only capable of incorporating already existing tools into its paradigm, all of what you talk about can be achieved without capitalism. Capitalism is not your friend. Please explain to me how the healthiest and most physically achieved people on this planet (Athletes and Olympians) incorporate grains and fruits and vegetables into their diets in amounts that you narrative would consider to be unhealthy?
@@ryanbentley1965 Same thing in effect. If they completed the Science process and got published. If you haven't read and absorbed Adam Smith's 2 volume thesis on Open Markets then we will not be on the same page. _My error, I used Marx's word, 'Capitalism'._ As long as corporations, guilds, trade associations and Unions are active then open markets are difficult to sustain. However the success when they can operate is documented: e.g. the first years of the US, till their govt imposed a paper tax... Life expectancy of 'top athletes' is reduced, not that is a bad thing, having a fantastic career and the concomitant advantages compensates. Keep watching as the 'fat-burning' crowd (full carnivores) start to make an impact.
If only these people know what damage they were doing. Our countryside is a completely tamed landscape, almost devoid of true wildlife or the means to support it. Islands of Wilderness are oasis within the Poisoned agricultural deserts that dominate the country, owned by mainly degenerates and alcoholics. 67% of our land is put over to grazing, and 80% of our grain goes to feeding animals. 90% of our total feed is imported. Its all completely messed. The way we have farmed for generations has left us a dire situation. Everyone needs an allotment, and the only way to get farming back to a sustainable manner that feeds us all in a healthy way and keeps a balance with nature is in the community. Bringing Farming into a commodity based capitalist economy is to blame. The elite pushing for the extraction of resources from the land for hundreds of years over subsistence farming is to blame. And hardly anyone sees the problem.
![Kumamoto Masters Japan 2024 | Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (INA) [5] vs. Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) [2] | F](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EIjZybhsWqA/mqdefault.jpg)
I lost my dad last autumn , he was born in 1939. He would have loved watching this but we'd have had to watch 5 times because he'd be reminiscing about the tractors and agricultural practices of the time! Great stuff.
Reclaiming from nature considered not the thing anymore. I remember the farm I worked on made a major investment in tile drains. Recently I saw a documentary where a conservation trust were gleefully ripping them out. I'm all for nature conservation but I feel extremely uneasy about the run down in agricultural production in the UK. It only takes a generation to lose skills and productive land. The pressures on land use currently, may well raise some major issues in the near future.
I agree totally, we will find ourselves unable to produce any kind of produce and rely on "dodgy" countries who can pull the plug at any time, This country's governments have left us wide open it would not surprise me to see ration books some time in the future.
They are doing the same here in the US. Could never feed the world like we did during and after WW2.
@@JohnAsmith-rw6uo Yes you would think a Country's main goal was to provide basic food stuffs,but it appears they'd rather buy from whoever is willing to let them have it!
100% Its always quicker to destroy then build.
We regulate pesticides and fertilisers but how in other countries Beef from Argentine, soja?
Tarihi traktörleri ve biçerdöverleri bizlere gösterdiğiniz için teşekkürler = Thank You = Danke Schön = Merci. İzmir/TÜRKİYE
Photographed by the great Geoffrey Unsworth. Great film, thanks for unloading it.
Hi from a crusty Irish farmer. Love your channel always.
I note that you have a “thing“ about the interaction of aristocratic land owner and farmer, and how it has changed. I am always a bit puzzled at the differences with Ireland, where the land ownership structure changed much more rapidly and earlier than in England. I guess the Gladstone, Ashbourne, and Wyndham acts which were a response to what may be called “land activism” provided the impetus.
A book that I know will interest you is by Samuel Hussey. It’s called, I think The reminisces of an Irish land Agent. It is mostly usual Irish R.M twaddle but has fascinating piece on Irish land and rent values and their changes. Sam ended up leaving Ireland for England perhaps influenced by an unfortunate explosion at his residence, but he was a remarkably shrewd guy in his day.
All the best.
I shall have a look, thankyou. I have wondered about Ireland as the little I was taught about feudalism there suggested the social hierarchy was based around ownership of cattle rather than land as. Something to explore in the future. Thanks for watching!
That was a glorious film! I quite enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing
Great content, much of the footage is 50s rather than wartime but still an era of 'dig for victory ' and to farm every inch. Vast swathes of parkland went under the gyrotiller. Huge progress was made in plant breeding, crop protection and mechanisation post war. We are now in retrograde with land out of production, rewilded or crops hampered by pests and weather. Its a return to the 1930s.
Brilliant film Ollie thanks for sharing looking forward to next weeks episode 👍
Beautiful to see 2n Ford Fergusons in operation just before the TE 20 bust on to the scene
Oli, if you aren't quite ready next week, you can show this again. We have only watched it twice and you have watched it about thirty times over, so we have some catching up to do. Joking aside, I really look forward to the history and politics of mechanisation.
I think this film must date from about 1941, since the Ford Ferguson 9N is on rubber tyres as opposed to the steel wheel spec that came in around 1942, to save materials required for the war effort. Also, all those Massey Harris 21 combines are constructed from galvanised sheet metal as the first ones were, when said combine was introduced in 1941. Later versions were simply painted red all over, with yellow wheel centres, but I have no information on when the colour change took place.
Very interesting as an Australian been 5th generation as my great great grandfather came in 1850 to Australian. In that time if you look at cropping it wasn't until post WW2 which machinery come into affect because cost of machinery as Pa like other Australians were still running horses but we did have tractor in 1940?, most land had been clear or i say clean up. Although grandad mum side his farming land was developed with irrigation scheme post WW2 settlement. I remember Pa telling me that my father n his brother had farming equipment they needed to farm into future. I told Pa to keep farming they need be more efficient that farming equipment we have was going out to date as i could see room for improvement, gps/computers getting more advanced. In 2001 to 2002 we had drought, rainfall for year was 9inches we lost on canola n 10 bags/acres with wheat. Fast forward around 2013 with year drought roughly 7 inches of rainfall for those few years and crops were better off because family upgrade machinery, practice was still same. To say minimal tilling like sowing between last year crop stubble works but there trades off with build up of pest/diseases careful management is needed not specialised farm equipment gain better results. This is where we are getting close to perfection, running big seeders the cost of wear n tear is not sustainable like big combines n machinery soil compaction is creeping in especially do more soil work to get soil back into right condition.
That view at the end!
You say the machines destroying nature is seen as a sin today but was celebrated at the time. Yet this is exactly what inspired JRR Tolkien to create Isengard, a land of machines destroying nature
Made me think of the upcoming improvements that we'll see in our lifetime. I think drones will play a huge role; not just for spraying, but for sowing and harvesting too.
Love how they couldn't get men who'd actually used a scythe to do the scythe scene... when you're handling grain you use a cradle on the scythe... we've used cradles on them for thousands of years. The cradle is a fan of sticks and twine that collects the cut stalks into a 'ream' to lay in a windrow, not in a jumble of trash on the stubble.
Interesting stuff. Hayami & Ruttan (1985, 2nd edn. pp.78-81) suggest that the innovative scythe with cradle was introduced to North America towards the end of the colonial period (ie 1780s) about doubled the per worker output to about 1 acre a day (2 man operation, 1 cutter and 1 binder), whilst in response to an expanding frontier induced further innovations eg patenting of the horse-drawn reaper in the 1830s, in widespread usage by 1850, about further doubled labor productivity etc. Not sure where the idea of a scythe-with cradle being sourced in antiquiy is sourced from. Can you kindly elaborate please. The 1943 film looks more like war time propaganda than an accurate representation of the wartime state of agricultural mechanisation in the UK. In any event they used 'free' German POWs to help hand-pull fibre crops at harvest time. A fine application of the 'arbeit macht frei' principle for sure!
That’s a fantastic hook
I think at the time, they were great advancements, but as of today, farmers need to be even more versatile. Some of the best farmers I know are also well versed in soil microbiology. And I may be biased because it was my degree, but computer science might be another area that might be extremely helpful to know.
Although a great advancement in ag was made it was at the cost of soil health
Nature and production can both be improved with good stewardship
I still think rebuilding is a farce
I'd be very interested to know who made the effort to create this film, who for, and why. The narrator sounds extremely posh to me (as I guess all narrators did back then), but i don't know if that signifies anything...
Another interesting thing is how in the modern age of extremely high tech farming equipment, I imagine that the individual farmer must be increasingly excluded from this kind of creative involvement in the development of the technology they are using. And maybe from the ownership of it, given that that stuff must be eye-wateringly expensive?
This was wartime. It's propaganda, I'd guess from the Ministry of Information (the British Council stamp being a clue) aimed at reassuring the public that they will not starve. The "posh voice" is Freddie Grisewood, a well-known (at the time) BBC announcer and presenter who chaired "Any Questions" on the radio into the late 1960s. The voice and the message shows how much the British Establishment has changed in my lifetime.
Actually there's a broader interesting question about where the capital comes from for all the very fun sounding modern farming tech, and how that impacts an individual land-owning farmer versus a larger company that employs farmers... The balance of power between these two modes of farming is very interesting!
Bits of it were watermarked with the logo of the British Council.
@@onehairybuddha That was a helpful clue that led me to this on their website... "During the Second World War, we begin the production of 120 British films aimed at showcasing modern Britain and counteracting Nazi propaganda." It would be interesting to know what Nazi propaganda it would be contradicting.
The exclusion of the farmer is more a reflection of the corporate business model and IP law than anything inherent to "high tech". Granted I doubt farmers will be funding their own satellites any time soon, but the purposeful restrictions on farmers making their own modifications and repairs has been a large impetus for the right to repair.
I've seen open source farm equipment (no idea of how good it is), so I can imagine a future where farmers roll their own equipment and complain about forums being snooty.
grey t20 going well up that hill, only 20hp but spade lugs and ferguson system made every horse power count.
What model are the mass
all those people and machines going to work for "home food production" (not , i imagine, for international export. and not yet for the enrichment of the chemical companies and commodity brokers. I think that came after the war. but i digress)
Lots People out of work Sent to city Council housing estates Fantastic 😊
A Luddite!
I'd love one of those predictable 1940's seasons, no amount of power helps when there's no traction, still we'll keep subsoiling and draining till people need calories
All that 'conquering of nature' ended with a great reduction of the numbers of farmers ( that was hardly a blessing, especially for those farmers who had to give up their farms ) and on a broader scale has brought us climate change, which will have and already has catastrophic consequences for many people. There are two sides to progress, but there is only one truth about nature: it is not a negotiation partner and reacts without consideration of human desires.
With the advent of farming larger civilisations became possible. However the nutrition it produced caused a decrease in the average size of both body and brain, in the region of 11-17%. See Anthropology. Also caries in the teeth, resistance to disease, etc. The proper human diet (PHD) is keto-carnivore (from fatty ruminants) which move, feed, breed themselves and need little _'conquering"._ The biggest equipment needed would be a farm donkey to help move mineral feeders, carry temp posts, etc. Or an ATV for the impatient. The human contribution: composting for soil enhancement, rotating the stock in small temporary paddocks, calming the herd/flock (to get fatter); and enjoying the peace. The Elite lifestyle.
How does this make any sense when the average height and weight of humans has only increased dramatically in the past 100 years? Some of the healthiest populations of people and longest lived have a diet that is 85% carbohydrates. Keep off the narratives, the truth is Humans are extremely adaptable in conditions and in diet, saying one diet is better than another unequivocally (aside from UPF's and processed meats which are known carcinogens) is to close off possibilities that are available.
@@ryanbentley1965 The Anthropological records are there for you to examine.
Recent size and longevity 'improvements' could be attributed to the expansion of knowledge: in medicine, logistics (capitalism), cleaner living spaces, etc. The entire array of Western 'magic'.
Those on the keto-carnivore diet that get themselves to the point that they become 'fat-adapted' (diet plus regular hard exercise) become the healthiest, clear-headed and most energetic of us all.
@@peterclark6290 Anthropological records are there for people to examine, not me. I don't have access to these records, only the studies done on these records.
By the way, Logistics and Cleaner living spaces are not to be attributed to capitalism, capitalism is an economic ideology and is only capable of incorporating already existing tools into its paradigm, all of what you talk about can be achieved without capitalism. Capitalism is not your friend.
Please explain to me how the healthiest and most physically achieved people on this planet (Athletes and Olympians) incorporate grains and fruits and vegetables into their diets in amounts that you narrative would consider to be unhealthy?
@@ryanbentley1965 Same thing in effect. If they completed the Science process and got published.
If you haven't read and absorbed Adam Smith's 2 volume thesis on Open Markets then we will not be on the same page. _My error, I used Marx's word, 'Capitalism'._ As long as corporations, guilds, trade associations and Unions are active then open markets are difficult to sustain. However the success when they can operate is documented: e.g. the first years of the US, till their govt imposed a paper tax...
Life expectancy of 'top athletes' is reduced, not that is a bad thing, having a fantastic career and the concomitant advantages compensates. Keep watching as the 'fat-burning' crowd (full carnivores) start to make an impact.
Aye now farmers are seen as the bad guys.
Meanwhile in my coutry... even now is 2024, the agriculture still the same as 1940s-1980s, and alway importing rice. 😂😂😂
much lik e russie
A British bull$hit video on farming and right away all those American tractors, International, Catapiller, Ford...........
What about all those American tractors? How is the video bull$hit?
If only these people know what damage they were doing. Our countryside is a completely tamed landscape, almost devoid of true wildlife or the means to support it. Islands of Wilderness are oasis within the Poisoned agricultural deserts that dominate the country, owned by mainly degenerates and alcoholics. 67% of our land is put over to grazing, and 80% of our grain goes to feeding animals. 90% of our total feed is imported. Its all completely messed. The way we have farmed for generations has left us a dire situation. Everyone needs an allotment, and the only way to get farming back to a sustainable manner that feeds us all in a healthy way and keeps a balance with nature is in the community. Bringing Farming into a commodity based capitalist economy is to blame. The elite pushing for the extraction of resources from the land for hundreds of years over subsistence farming is to blame. And hardly anyone sees the problem.