Was the 1958 Reform Ruinous for Collective Farms?

Abstract

Abstract: The state of collective farms after the 1958 Reform is considered. Radical reconstruction occurred in the agricultural sector of the Soviet economy. The collective farms turned out to be the owners of machines and agricultural tools, but without the necessary infrastructure for their work and without any experience in the organization of tractor operations. The equipment procurement turned many collective farms into debtors of the State, and in the future their expenses for production needs only grew. The Government tried to solve the problem of economically weak collective farms by combining them with the strong farms and converting them into state farms. In the new economic conditions, collective farm production did not have sufficient resources for development. The first years of the work of collective farms in the new conditions showed the need for a serious adjustment of the State agricultural policy.