SMALL FARM (BUSINESS MANAGEMENT) SCHEME 1968 (Hansard, 26 July 1968)

§ LORD HILTON OF UPTON
My Lords, I beg to move, That the Small Farm (Business Management) Scheme 1968. a draft of which was laid before this House on July 3, 1968, be approved. I trust that it will be convenient when dealing with this Order to deal also with the Small Farm (Business Management) (Scotland) Scheme 1968. As foreshadowed in the Annual Review White Paper last March it is proposed to renew these Schemes for a further twelve months from September 1, 1968.
1432 Your Lordships may wish to be reminded briefly of the terms of these Schemes which are open to small farmers occupying holdings of between 20 and 125 acres and where the size of the business is between 250 and 600 standard man-days a year. A farmer who carries out an approved programme, designed to increase the efficiency of his business, over a period of three years can obtain grant up to a maximum of £1,000. He must keep specified farm records on which he can base future farm management decisions. Programmes may be either complete, providing for the attainment of objectives in each of the three years of participation as well as the maintaining of records, or basic, with provision for record keeping over the three years but objectives for the first year only. Most basic programmes are subsequently modified to include objectives for the second and third years after the first year's records become available.
The new Scheme is in all major respects the same as the 1965 version, the only changes, apart from minor drafting amendments, being concerned with relations to other Schemes. These relate mainly to the Farm Business Recording Scheme which was not in existence when the 1965 Business Management Scheme was made. We have made provision that grant may not be obtained through concurrent membership of both Schemes, since both are based on the keeping of records; and we have made it a requirement that farmers who have received grant under the Farm Business Recording Scheme must undertake a complete programme. I think your Lordships will agree that those who have already had assistance in this field should have the experience and the necessary records to enable them to embark on a full three-year programme from the outset. Arrangements have also been made to prevent a farmer from obtaining double grant by participating simultaneously in the 1965 and the new Business Management Scheme.
The response to the current Scheme has been rather less than we hoped. This is a pity because inquiries through the National Agricultural Advisory Service satisfy us that those who are taking part are learning a good deal, and the efficiency of their businesses is being substantially increased. The Farmers' Unions have welcomed the renewal of 1433 these Schemes, which will be subject to further consideration at the next Annual Review, and the Schemes were given a welcome in the Commons on July 18. My Lords, I commend these Schemes for the approval of the House. I beg to move.

§ LORD NUGENT OF GUILDFORD
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Hilton of Upton, for telling us something about the Scheme and how it is working, and from these Benches I welcome it as a useful little Scheme which will give help to the small farmer.
In farming today all profit margins are under great pressure, and that is especially so with livestock producers. Normally it is livestock production which is the basis of the small farmer's living. Therefore his income has been stationary, or has even shown a downward trend in recent years compared with the rising trend of the rest of the community.
As the noble Lord has said, the response to this Scheme has been rather less than the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food had hoped, and I believe that the total numbers who have taken up the Scheme are of the order of 5,600, against a potential, estimated to be about 40,000 units, which might be eligible for the Scheme. This is disappointing. I entirely agree with the noble Lord that the Scheme is a useful one. Most farmers will get a good deal of benefit from the introduction of sound management systems, if they have not already got them, and this is especially true of the small farmer, who very often does not have them.
This situation, where there is known to be need and the number of applications is so small in terms of the potential, prompts me to ask whether the Ministry has given sufficient publicity to this Scheme, and whether more could be done to publicise its benefits; to explain how it can help and what its practical value is; whether it is possible to arrange "open days" at farms that have taken up the Scheme and where the farmers are willing to co-operate and show what benefit they have received. This is the kind of demonstration which has the 1434 greatest value and is the greatest help. There is no doubt that the small farmer needs all the help we can give him, and although this Scheme is quite small in scope it could have a very great benefit.
I put those thoughts to the noble Lord and ask him if he will take them back to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (and I am sure that Mr. Cledwyn Hughes, coming from Wales, will understand the problems of the small farmer) and ask him whether more impetus could be given to this Scheme.

§ LORD HILTON OF UPTON
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Nugent of Guildford, for the welcome he has given this Scheme. I am not surprised, since the N.F.U. have already welcomed it, as have Members in another place. The noble Lord, Lord Nugent, has had a great deal of experience of different ways of publicising things in the farming fraternity, but I am pleased to tell him that the Ministry have been doing a number of things to try to publicise this Scheme. I know that very often when such Schemes are comparatively new farmers are slow to "catch on", but I can tell the noble Lord, Lord Nugent, what is being done so far.
Press notices and technical articles are being published in the trade Press and a distribution is being made of special leaflets. I hope the noble Lord will think that the one I have in my hand is a very attractive colour. It is rather like some of the literature issued by some political Parties—though not the one in which the noble Lord is especially interested. It is an attractive leaflet, and it contains some very good tips for farmers wishing to participate in the Scheme. These leaflets are being distributed at agricultural shows and meetings of the N.F.U., and similar events. Again, the N.A.A.S. are doing what they can, as usual, to publicise the Scheme, including the arranging of special introductory meetings, both in England and in Scotland, and trying to publicise the Schemes in the agricultural colleges. The suggestion made by the noble Lord that there might be "open days" at farms where the Scheme is already in operation might be well worth while. It has been successful in the case of other Schemes that have been introduced by the Government, and I will certainly put forward his suggestion to my right 1435 honourable friend. I cannot make any promises that it will be carried out, but I think it is a good suggestion. I am grateful for the support which the noble Lord has given to the Scheme.