§ 57. Sir J. Langford-Holtasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, what has been the decrease in the sheep population of the West Midlands in the last six years; and to what he attributes this decrease.
§ Mr. John MackieThe total sheep population of the West Midland Region at June, 1968 was some 140,000 or 6½ per cent. lower than June, 1962. I believe the main reasons to be the increase in the cereals acreage which rose by 30 per cent. between 1963 and 1967 and has inevitably meant a reduction in the land available for lowland sheep production. Foot and mouth losses also amounted to over 70,000.