§ Dr. StrangTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to her answer of 20 April,Official Report, column 568, if she will set out beef and ewe numbers for the minimum level of agricultural activity equivalents including 1993 standard man day—SMD— equivalents and European size unit—ESU—thresholds; and what are the reasons for the different definitions of what constitutes the minimum level of activity for a full-time commercial farm in the less-favoured area provided in her answer and printed in the farm business survey.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardFarm size is not currently measured by standard man days; values for SMD equivalents have not been revised since 1976. The threshold for inclusion of farms in the farm business survey is currently eight ESU and in the less favoured areas this is equivalent to either 30 hill cows or between 200 and 250 hill ewes. It is estimated that farms below this size account for only about 2.8 per cent. of the total United Kingdom agricultural activity, as measured by SGM.
The reason for the change in the threshold used in the farm business survey from 275 SMD in 1964 to 250 SMD in 1979 reflected a reduction in the length of the working week. In 1979, when the method of measuring farm size based on SGMs was introduced in the United Kingdom, on average, across all types of crops and livestock, 250 SMD was approximately equivalent to four ESU based on the average of 1972 to 1974 SGM. SGMs used in farm classification in the United Kingdom have subsequently been updated to the average of 1978 to 1980 values and then to the average of 1987 to 1989 values to take account of changes in the gross margins of the various types of crops and livestock. The change in the ESU threshold from four to eight reflects changes in the aggregate value of the SGM of the United Kingdom agricultural sector resulting from the move from 1972–74 to 1978–80 SGM.