policy change in 1972-73 by not resorting to 'internal belt-tightening', mainly in view of the possibility of substantial grain imports from America in the years to come. Between 1971 and 1976 the number of pigs in the Soviet Union came down by 10 million or 14 per cent and the number of heads of cattle rose by only 2 million or about 5 per cent. However, according to American specialists, the damage to the Soviet livestock economy would have been greater without American grain. During 1978 and 1979, when Soviet grain imports were significant, there was a modest increase both in the number of livestock and the production of meat in the Soviet Union.
