§ 60. Mr. Hurdasked the Minister of Food how many calves under a fortnight old were taken for slaughter by his Department in April; and if he has now decided to revise the price scale to ensure that suitable calves are retained on farms this Summer and fattened for veal.
§ Mr. WebbRecords are not available in the form asked for by the hon. Member, but the number of "bobby calves" purchased by my Department during the three weeks up to 21st April is provisionally estimated at just under 35,000. A high proportion of these would, of course, not be suitable for fattening. In reply to the second part of the Question, it has now been decided to increase calf prices so as to encourage the fattening of calves for veal, and I hope that it will be possible to agree a new price scale at a meeting between my officials and farmers' representatives tomorrow.