§ 22. Mr. PENNEFATHERasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture if the Government is prepared to guarantee to farmers and others who break up pasture in order to grow food minimum prices for a fixed period; and, if so, will he state the prices and the period without delay?
§ 26. Mr. O'SHAUGHNESSYasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether he is aware that winter wheat is generally sown at this time of year; and, in order to encourage the sowing of a larger area of wheat in Great Britain and Ireland for the coming year, can he say whether the Government will give any guarantee to farmers that their wheat will be taken from them next year at a price which will pay for the increased cost of labour and tillage?
§ Mr. ACLANDI can only refer to the answers which I gave to questions on the same subject by the hon. and gallant Member for the Ludlow Division of Shropshire on the I2th and 18th of last month.
§ Mr. PENNEFATHERCan the right hon. Gentleman state in reply to my question whether it is intended to offer minimum prices for a fixed period?
§ Mr. ACLANDThat is exactly what cannot do. If I could have stated that, I would have done so.
§ Mr. O'SHAUGHNESSYHaving regard to the fact that milk and butter, beef and mutton are fetching such high prices, does the right hon. Gentleman expect that farmers will go to the expense of tilling the land if they do not get some guarantee of a minimum price?
§ Mr. ACLANDI can only say that farmers, to their credit, are doing so to the very best of their ability, with the labour that is left to them, being sure, as reasonable men, that prices will keep at a remunerative level.
§ Mr. O'SHAUGHNESSYIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that there was less tillage in Ireland last year than there was the year before?
§ Mr. ACLANDYes; and yet they were quite certain of very good prices. It is not a question of profit; it is a question of the availability of labour and weather.