§ Mr. DavidsonTo ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are her estimates for total income from farming in each of the last 15 years, the number of farmers in the United Kingdom for a comparable period and the average farm income for the same years.
§ Mr. JackThe table shows the estimates for each year from 1978 to 1992 of total income from farming, which represents the total income from agriculture of the group with an entrepreneurial interest in the industry—farmers and spouses, non-principal partners and directors and their spouses and family workers—and the number of farmers, partners and directors in the United Kingdom engaged in farm work. It is not possible to calculate a meaningful measure of average farm income from these figures. Information on average farm incomes is collected from sample surveys and the results for each type of farm are published annually in "Farm Incomes in the United Kingdom". This publication is available in the Library of the House.
506W
Total income from farming (£ million) Number of farmers, partners and directors (doing farm work) (thousands) 1978 1,572 303.3 1979 1,511 303.9 1980 1,484 297.9
Total income from farming (£ million) Number of farmers, partners and directors (doing farm work) (thousands) 1981 1,846 293.6 1982 2,226 292.8 1983 1,866 289.6 1984 2,689 292.2 1985 1,647 290.3 1986 2,104 288.9 1987 2,169 284.5 1988 1,810 284.2 1989 2,290 283.3 1990 2,350 281.6 1991 2,452 278.6 19921 2,831 280.5 1 Provisional.