The Corn Production Act 1917 (7 & 8 Geo. 5. c. 46) was an Act passed by the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

under

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...

's coalition government during the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The Act guaranteed British farmers a good price for their

cereal A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...

crops so that Britain would not have to import them, as

German U-boats U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

were sinking ships importing food into Britain. When it was repealed by

Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

government, the effects in rural areas were similar to a sudden slump.

Charles Arnold-Baker Charles Arnold-Baker, OBE (born Wolfgang Charles Werner von Blumenthal; 25 June 1918 – 6 June 2009) was an English member of MI6, barrister ( called 1948) and historian. He was the author of the ''Companion to British History''. He was award ...

, ''

The Companion to British History The ''Companion to British History'' is a single-volume encyclopaedic reference work written by Charles Arnold-Baker and edited by his son Henry von Blumenthal. It was published by Longcross Press in 1996, and described by ''The Spectator'' as "a ...

'' (London: Routledge, 2007), p. 362.

Notes

{{reflist United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1917 Agriculture legislation in the United Kingdom