§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on recent trends in arable farm prices. [66517]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 2 July 2002]The table shows price patterns for arable crops over the period May 2001 to May 2002, one month more than a year to allow comparison for the maincrop potato where the season end is May. Here follows the explanation of the price trends.
Bread making wheat prices have fallen by around 4 per cent. between May 2001 and May 2002. Domestic demand has been flat and any short term supply difficulties have been met by imports from the EU.
Feed wheat prices have declined by around 12 per cent. over the last year with the most marked fall since February 2002. Markets have come under increasing pressure from cheap Black sea eg Ukrainian supplies.
Feed barley prices have been affected by falling wheat prices and limited trade on the domestic market. Overall they have declined by 19 per cent. over the period May 2001 to May 2002.
Maincrop potato prices have declined by 20 per cent. since the start of the current maincrop season in August 2001 and by 47 per cent. compared to the end of the 2000–01 season in May 2001. The fall in prices can be attributed to supplies outstripping demand. There is a large price difference between the poorest and best quality stock.
Early potatoes are not shown on the table as at this point in 2002 there is no monthly representative data, however weekly information provides an indication. For the 2001 early season (June and July), prices were considerably higher than during 1999 and 2000 due to strong demand and poor weather restricting supplies. Early indications for 2002 suggest a likely fall in prices due to large volumes of imports. The latest provisional weekly prices (14–20 June) show the prices 98 per cent. and 30 per cent. higher than the equivalent weeks in 1999 and 2000 but 53 per cent. lower than in 2001.
£/tonne Date Bread making wheat Feed wheat Feed barley Maincrop potatoes May 2001 84.86 76.48 72.02 159.12 June 2001 88.18 76.56 71.73 1— July 2001 86.05 75.19 66.96 1— August 2001 88.72 75.38 65.22 105.86 September 2001 91.04 76.71 66.99 84.89 October 2001 89.87 76.27 65.69 79.01 November 2001 89.89 77.05 65.51 81.87 December 2001 89.94 76.75 67.44 84.32 January 2002 90.79 76.84 68.07 91.59 February 2002 91.23 76.23 67.02 93.47 March 2002 87.05 72.45 63.67 93.34 April 2002 84.09 68.75 59.75 89.26 May 2002 81.23 67.46 58.26 84.73 1 Out of season