§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what provision is made by his Department for the cost of land in calculating farm production costs and farm incomes.
§ Mr. MacleanThere are various ways of allowing for the costs of land, which may be either tenanted or owner-occupied, in the calculation of farm costs and incomes.
In the calculation of measures of aggregate farming incomes, allowance is made for the rent paid on tenanted land. In respect of owner-occupied land, allowance is made for the cost of land maintenance and improvement but not for the purchase of land, the return to use of which is thus included within the resulting measures of farm income.
The treatment of land costs in the farm business surveys, which provide data by farm type, is described in pages 111–112 of the 1989 edition of farm incomes in the United Kingdom, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.