§ 16. Sir John Farrasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the level of returns in the beef fattening industry.
§ Mr. JoplingIn the first half of 1985 producer returns, taken as market price plus variable premium for finished beef cattle, were slightly lower than in the corresponding period of 1984. This reduction was, however, partly offset by lower prices of compound feedingstuffs.
§ Sir John FarrI congratulate my right hon. Friend on his efforts to retain the beef premium scheme, which has made so much difference to the industry, but does he agree that the business of beef fattening and finishing has now become so unprofitable that there is a real risk of the English beef joint disappearing from the Sunday dinner table?
§ Mr. JoplingI am grateful for what my hon. Friend said about the variable premium payments, which are worth between £2 million and £3 million a week to the industry. Intervention has played a greater role since the introduction of the carcase classification grid last year. The United Kingdom intake is now running at about 1,000 tonnes of forequarters per week. The suckler cow subsidy was doubled to £24.74 per cow last year. This year, the hill livestock compensatory allowances have become available in marginal areas for the first time. In addition, private storage aid was made available earlier this year.