Farming Statistics (Hansard, 25 October 1984)

§ 2. Mr. Gould
asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many farmers now farm fewer than 500 acres; and how this compares with 1973.

§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. John MacGregor)
The information is not available in the form requested. However, in June 1983 some 219,000 holdings in England and Wales of fewer than 200 hectares—494.2 acres—were recorded in the agricultural census. Comparable figures for 1973 are not available because of changes since then in the coverage of the annual census.

§ Mr. Gould
Have not the vast sums of taxpayers' money which have been pumped into agriculture through 792 the common agricultural policy driven up the price of agricultural land so much that small farmers have been squeezed out, and increasingly only wealthy individuals and institutions can afford to buy? Should not this factor feature prominently in any review of agricultural policy which might be carried out by the Ministry?

§ Mr. MacGregor
There are obviously many factors involved in the rise in the price of agricultural land. It is certainly not the case that increasinly only institutions and wealthy farmers can afford to farm. The amount of land in institutional hands is still, relatively speaking, very small.
The hon. Gentleman is right to draw attention to the increasing costs of the common agricultural policy, and the Government's efforts have been very much directed towards getting that into better shape.

§ Sir Paul Hawkins
Does my hon. Friend accept that there has been a large reduction in the number of small farmers? Will he take note of the welcome statement, at long last, by the National Farmers Union that it supports smaller family farms? What will the Minister do about the problem?

§ Mr. MacGregor
My hon. Friend will know that we have examined several proposals in the past, some of which he has advocated, such as control over farm size and the impact of the institutional farmers. He and I have had many exchanges on the subject. The fact that we have been concentrating our dairy farm outgoers scheme on the small farmers is a clear indication of our determination to help them and to continue to help the family farmers.