Shortfalls in 1934 and 1935 were covered by running down the stock accumulated in the first good year of the Third Reich. This, however, was by its nature a short-term solution. By the summer of 1936 the grain stock, which in early 1934 had stood at 3.5 million tons, had been drawn down to the dangerous level of less than 700,000 tons. This was barely enough to ensure continuity to the new harvest. Already in the summer of 1935 there had been talk of the need to introduce ration cards for bread. For obvious reasons, this was deemed to be politically unacceptable. Instead, the RNS resorted to
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