HC Deb 16 October 1968 vol 770 cc369-70
33. Mr. Bryant Godman Irvine

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what consideration he is giving to the possibility of introducing a special encouragement to farmers to increase the use of the grass break in arable rotations.

Mr. John Mackie

The desirability of encouraging a grass break in arable rotations depends largely on the circumstances of the individual farm and the use to which the grass can be put, but the substantial increases made at the last Annual Review to the returns of cattle and sheep producers should have made the introduction of a grass break more attractive to arable farmers. Therefore my right hon. Friend has at present no plans for grant aiding the laying down of arable land to grass.

Mr. Irvine

Is the hon. Gentleman not aware that there is still a great deal of room for improvement in the amount of production of beef and sheep? Therefore, if he did give special encouragement to those enterprises, not only would he stand a better chance of reducing imports, but he would also stand a better chance of reducing cereal disease.

Mr. Mackie

I appreciate this. As I said, we give this encouragement, but there is no good in growing grass if we do not use it. Therefore, we give encouragement to stock to eat the grass. It is for the arable farmers to decide whether to lay down grass to feed the stock.