§ 40. Mr. Hurdasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what revised estimate he has made of the total meat supplies for 1956 and 1957; to what extent the extra beef is coming from home sources and Argentina; and how these supplies compare with pre-war levels.
§ Mr. NugentTotal supplies of carcase meat in 1956 are now estimated at about 2.2 million tons as compared with 20 million tons before the war. It is impossible to forecast future supplies precisely, but we expect in 1957 a further increase in home production which is now about 25 per cent. above pre-war and we 1610 think there may be some increase in imports of beef from Argentina, which are now about 30 per cent. below pre-war.
§ Mr. HurdIn thanking my hon. Friend for that reply, which, I am sure, will be reassuring to the public at large, may I ask whether he could explore the possibility of getting shippers to this country to give advance information of quantities that they are likely to send here, even if they do so only two or three months ahead, so that we do not run into the kind of difficulties that were encountered this summer with extra shipments of Argentine beef, which came on to the market unexpectedly to the Government and to farmers?
§ Mr. NugentWe are in touch with importing shippers as far as possible.