§ 65. Mr. Hurdasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how the estimates of cereal yields from this harvest made by his Department compare with those of recent years ; to what extent allowance has been made for the abnormally high moisture content of the grain, the amount of grain wasted by shedding and for crops that could not be harvested at all ; and on what sources of information in the counties his Department relies for these estimates.
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§ Mr. NugentOn the basis of the estimates made at the 1st October, the yields per acre of wheat, barley and rye are expected to be about the same as the average of the five years 1951 to 1955, but the yields of oats and mixed corn are expected to be below the average.
These estimates are summarised from reports prepared by the local officers of the National Agricultural Advisory Service, on the basis of their knowledge of local conditions.
CROP ESTIMATES FOR ENGLAND AND WALES 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 5-year average 1951–55 1956 (subject to revision) cwt. cwt. cwt. cwt. cwt. cwt. cwt. Wheat … … 21.7 22.6 24.0 22.6 26.7 23.5 23.3 Barley … … 20.2 19.9 22.6 21.4 25.4 21.9 21.9 Oats … … 18.9 19.7 21.2 19.2 22.5 20.3 17.6 Mixed Corn … 19.4 19.9 21.0 18.4 22.1 20.2 18.0 Rye … … 18.1 18.2 19.6 18.5 20.4 19.0 19.5