HC Deb 04 February 1966 vol 723 cc312-4W
Mr. Scott-Hopkins

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the total number of calves born of both milk and beef type, the total number of calves reared to slaughter age, and the total number of calves going into the dairy herd each year for the past five years.

Mr. Hoy

I regret that there are no statistics relating to the number of calves born alive from both the dairy and beef herds. However, for England and Wales, statistics are available of the total number of cows and heifers calving down each year, which would be somewhat greater than the number of calves actually born alive, although these figures cannot be broken down separately as between those of milk and those of beef type.

Numbers of Cows and Heifers calving in England and Wales
June/May years ('000's)
1960–61 3,263
1961–62 3,349
1962–63 3,337
1963–64 3,190
1964–65 3,293

The total number of home bred calves reared to slaughter age and marketed as clean fat cattle is not available. The number of clean cattle certified under the Fatstock Guarantee Scheme in England and Wales, excluding cattle imported from the Irish Republic, is given in the table below. The number

IMPORTS OF BEEF, MUTTON AND LAMB INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM
1961 1962 1963 1964 1965
BEEF
Total '000 tons 282.4 321.5 353.4 338.8 284.8
£'000 ?53,387 £60,836 £62,972 £82,778 £77,420
Argentine Republic '000 tons 152.9 181.5 235.5 149.1 107.6
£'000 £26,249 £32,059 £39,011 £34,214 £26,857
Australia '000 tons 31.0 33.0 17.0 82.0 88.9
£'000 £6,491 £6,462 £3,738 £22,274 £25,263
Irish Republic '000 tons 33.0 21.6 18.0 19.8 28.3
£'000 £7,555 £5,330 £4,400 £5,209 £7,653
New Zealand '000 tons 10.5 6.5 1.9 25.4 28.9
£'000 £1,657 £1,082 £360 £6,169 £7,979
Uruguay '000 tons 20.2 17.1 40.9 31.7 4.3
£'000 £3,621 £2,953 £6,503 £6,584 £1,042
Yugoslavia '000 tons 170 39.2 14.6 13.5 5.7
£'000 £3,298 £7,548 £2,921 £3,139 £1,452
Other countries "000 tons 17.8 22.6 25.5 17.3 21.1
£'000 £4,516 £5,402 £6,039 £5,189 £7,174
MUTTON
Total '000 tons 44.9 43.4 32.0 35.9 38.3
£'000 £4,807 £4,534 £3,612 £5,070 £5,345
Australia '000 tons 6.8 7.9 6.1 8.1 8.9
£'000 £1,124 £1,038 £1,026 £1,550 £1,699
New Zealand '000 tons 37.5 35.2 25.3 27.2 27.9
£'000 £3,619 £3,446 £2,499 £3,406 £3,438
Other countries '000 tons 0.6 0.3 0.6 0.6 1.5
£'000 £64 £50 £87 £114 £208

of clean animals certified is less than the total number marketed, because some animals may not meet the standards of eligibility for the guarantee, and others may not be presented for guarantee.

Numbers of home bred steers and heifers certified in England and Wales
June/May years ('000's)
1960–61 1,243
1961–62 1,575
1962–63 1,542
1963–64 1,569
1964–65 1,353

The total number of heifers entering the dairy and beef herds in England and Wales as returned by the Agricultural Census is given below. The numbers specifically entering the dairy herd are not available.

Numbers of heifers calving for the first time in England and Wales
June/May years ('000's)
1960–61 819
1961–62 828
1962–63 792
1963–64 723
1964–65 785