§ Sir A. Bossomasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will arrange for his departmental advisory service to make suggestions as to a form of insurance against disasters brought about by inclement weather in this country, and due to which agriculturalists are at times serious sufferers.
160W
ANNUAL REVIEWS — 1957 1958 1959 Fat Cattle … … … + 3.3 + 0.6
No change Fat Sheep and Lambs … … … + 3.9 No change No change (See Note (a)) Fat Pigs … … … No change - 3.9 No change Hen Eggs … … … - 3.5 - 3.2 - 2.0 Duck Eggs … … … - 3.5 - 2.9 - 2.4 Wool … … … No change No change - 3.6 Milk … … … + 0.7 - 2.6 No change (See Note (b)) (See Note (c)) Wheat … … … - 3.9 - 1.7 - 1.8 Barley … … … + 1.8 No change No change Oats … … … + 10.8 No change No change Rye … … … - 4.0 No change - 2.3 Potatoes … … … + 3.7 No change No change Sugar Beet … … … + 1.9 No change No change NOTES: (a) Following the 1959 Annual Review the guaranteed price for fat sheep was left unchanged, but the maximum weights in respect of which guarantee payments may be made were reduced; this change was estimated to be equivalent to a reduction of 0.05 per cent in the guaranteed price. (b) Following the 1957 Annual Review the guaranteed price for milk was increased by ¼d. per gallon (0.65 per cent). In addition the standard quantity to which the guaranteed price for milk in England and Wales is related was increased by 3½ million gallons; this change was estimated to be equivalent to a further increase of 0½08 per cent in the guaranteed price for the United Kingdom. (c) Following the 1959 Annual Review the standard quantity for England and Wales was further increased by 7 million gallons; this change was estimated to be equivalent to an increase of 0.2 per cent in the guaranteed price for the United Kingdom. (d) The percentage changes shown in the above table do not include adjustments to guaranteed prices, consequent upon changes in guarantee arrangements, which did not alter the effective value of the guarantees.
§ Mr. John HareStandard forms of policy are already available and quite frequently used for insurance against a few obvious hazards such as lightning and hail. Other weather risks can undoubtedly be serious but the difficulty of distinguishing weather damage from other causes of reduced yields tends to make more extensive insurance cover prohibitive in cost. I am afraid that I can at present see no means of overcoming this difficulty.