§ Lieut-Commander Maydonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at what percentage of full capacity bacon factories in the United Kingdom have been working during the months of January, February, March and April, 1957; and what effect this fall from total capacity has had on average bacon prices.
§ Mr. Godber:Expressed as a percentage of the highest output ever attained (in the autumn of 1952) the production of bacon factories in the United Kingdom was 61, 65 and 69 respectively for the first three months of this year. The figure for April is likely to be comparable to that for March.
Prices for "A" selection home-produced bacon this year have ranged from 328s. per cwt. in January, to 247s. at which level they remained from 25th March until a few days ago. The price has since risen to 257s. The comparable price in the autumn of 1952 was 323s. 6d. per cwt. Thus there appears to be no direct relationship between the proportion of factory capacity employed and the market price of bacon.