§ 5. Mr. Colvinasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many tons of intervention stocks of grain were disposed of abroad during the last 12 months; and what is the current price per ton being achieved.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe answer is that 748,000 tonnes of grain, all barley, have been exported from United Kingdom intervention stocks during the past 12 months. The price of the most recent sales, on 19 May, was around £64 per tonne net of the export refund and monetary compensatory amount then applicable.
§ Mr. ColvinI thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Will he also tell the House how many tonnes of feed grain have been released from intervention for use by United Kingdom livestock producers? What will he do in his new post to help hard-pressed pig farmers in my constituency who are having to pay about £130 per tonne for feed grain and see intervention grain shipped out of Southampton for use by Spanish farmers at a fraction of the price that my constituents have to pay, due to EC refunds?
§ Mr. MacGregorAbout 89,000 tonnes of barley and 10,400 tonnes of feed wheat have been sold out of intervention on to the home market and most, if not all, of that will have been used by the livestock sector. In addition, 164,000 tonnes of bread-making wheat have been released, some of which will have been used by the livestock sector.
In response to my hon. Friend's second question, I can tell him that I am aware of the difficulties facing pig producers. The previous Conservative Government took a number of steps which have eased the situation, and it is helpful that current pig prices are above the April figure.
Without the sales from intervention stocks, shortages in the home market would have been worse and feed grain prices to livestock producers would be higher. My hon. Friend will know of the Commission's discussions, in which the United Kingdom has been actively involved, about a cereals incorporation scheme, which might also be helpful to the livestock sector.
§ Mr. StrangHow does the Minister reconcile the state's open-ended commitment to buy everything that the farmer produces, regardless of the cost of disposal, with the Government's overall philosophy that the market knows best?
§ Mr. MacGregorWe operate within a European system, which has a significant effect on the matter. Various factors affecting agriculture are different from those affecting the area for which I previously had responsibility.