The War Agricultural Executive Committees were government-backed organisations tasked with increasing agricultural production in each
county of the United Kingdom, during both the
First and
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
s. They were established in Autumn 1915 by the
2nd Earl of Selborne in a collaboration between the
Board of Agriculture
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) was a United Kingdom government department created by the Board of Agriculture Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c.30) and at that time called the Board of Agriculture, and then from 1903 the Board ...
and
County Councils
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.
Ireland
The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...
, with the aim of better managing the country's limited wartime agricultural resources.
They were later re-formed in Autumn 1939 with the outbreak of the Second World War, and given more expansive powers over farmers and landowners in the United Kingdom. After performing surveys of rural land in their county, each Committee was given the power to serve orders to farmers "requiring work to be done, or, in cases of default, to take possession of the land". Committees could decide, on a farmer's behalf, which crops should be planted in which fields, so as to best increase the production of foodstuffs in their areas.
With the help of the War Agricultural Executive Committees, or "War Ags", British farmers increased the total productive land in the UK by 1.7 million acres between 1939 and the Spring of 1940.
See also
*''
Women's Land Army (World War I)
The Women's Land Army (WLA) was a British civilian organisation created in 1917 by the Board of Agriculture during the First World War to bring women into work in agriculture, replacing men called up to the military. Women who worked for the ...
''
*''
Women's Land Army (World War II)
The Women's Land Army (WLA) was a British civilian organisation created in 1917 by the Board of Agriculture during the First World War to bring women into work in agriculture, replacing men called up to the military. Women who worked for the ...
''
References
{{Reflist, 2
United Kingdom in World War I
United Kingdom home front during World War II
Agricultural organisations based in the United Kingdom
History of agriculture in the United Kingdom