HC Deb 20 April 1971 vol 815 c924
5. Mr. Farr

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the total production of home-killed beef and veal in 1963, 1969 and 1970.

Mr. Anthony Stodart

Total production of home-killed beef and veal in 1963 was 929,081 tons, in 1969 856,876 tons, and the provisional total for 1970 is 931,370 tons.

Mr. Farr

As six years of Socialist Government between 1964 and 1969 saw a decline of nearly 100,000 tons in beef output, can my hon. Friend assure the House that the recent steps taken by his right hon. Friend are adequate to reverse this serious trend?

Mr. Stodart

I certainly expect the award announced in 1971 to stimulate production considerably. I merely enter the caveat, as I have previously, that figures given for calendar years can be misleading.

Mr. Cledwyn Hughes

Does not the hon. Gentleman agree that his right hon. Friend's White Paper on the Price Review indicated that the selective expansion programme for beef was satisfactorily on target?

Mr. Stodart

I should not quarrel with that. I can well understand the right hon. Gentleman's eagerness to snap up any crumb of success to be found in his otherwise rather uneventful programme.