§ Mr. Allen McKayasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if any proposals are being, or have been, discussed in the European Economic Community to restrict the use of materials which are more cost effective than cereals for animal feed.
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§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithThe Council of Ministers has recently discussed proposals made by the European Commission concerning imports of three feed ingredients that can in certain circumstances offer cost advantages over cereals. For manioc the Council has agreed that imports should be held at approximately the level reached in recent years in order to limit the rapidly rising cost to the Community budget of exporting the cereals which manioc displaces. Against strong objections from the United Kingdom and some other member States, the Council has decided to increase the import levy on cereal brans and screenings to an extent which might make these materials less attractive for inclusion in animal feed. The Commission has proposed that imports of maize gluten feed should be limited, but the Council, with strong support from the United Kingdom, has so far refused to agree to that.
§ Mr. Allen McKayasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what increases he anticipates in the cost of cereals for animal feed over the next 12 months; to what extent these will derive from decisions on agricultural policy taken by the European Community; what, he estimates, will be the effect of such price increases on the British livestock farmer; and whether there are any proposals for further increases which could raise cereal prices further.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithThe cost of cereals used for animal feed in the coming year will be influenced by a variety of factors including the size of the harvest, the price and availability of alternative feedingstuffs and the level of European Community support prices. The Council of Agriculture Ministers decided on 17–18 May, as part of this year's price-fixing, to raise the intervention price for feed grains by 8.5 per cent. from the start of the coming marketing year on 1 August and to raise the target price by 8.7 per cent. These increases are around 2 per cent. below those agreed for livestock products, reflecting the Council's desire to adjust the balance of profitability between the cereals and livestock sectors.
It is not possible at this stage to predict exactly how prices over the coming year will be influenced by each of these factors.
I am not aware of any further proposals for price increases in the cereals sector.