HC Deb 20 January 1944 vol 396 cc395-6W
Mr. Jackson

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he is prepared to examine the case of the substantial body of farmers who claim to be doing worse materially than in pre-war times.

Mr. Hudson

Yes, certainly.

Mr. Granville

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will reconsider his recent decision on farming prices; and if he will meet the representatives of the industry for the purpose of reopening negotiations, with a view to arriving at an agreed settlement.

Mr. Lewis

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in deciding upon the latest prices for cereals, he took into account the costs of production in those comparatively limited areas with large farms and big fields where a high degree of mechanisation is practicable or the costs of production in the far greater areas in which, owing to diversity of local conditions and other causes, farming has long been carried out in small farms with small fields where the facilities for mechanisation are more restricted.

Captain Plugge

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he can give an official estimate of the gross value of agricultural products in any year immediately prewar: and what is the estimated value of such products in the latest year for which substantially complete figures are available.

Sir A. Maitland

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he will make a statement or issue a White Paper giving particulars of the Government's decision in regard to meeting the cost of the last increase in the wages of agricultural workers.

Mr. Hudson

I hope to deal with these matters in the forthcoming Debate on agriculture.