§ 59. Sir A. Hurdasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the reasons for the present slack demand for home-killed beef which results in the rates of guaranteed payment to producers rising again to over 9d. a pound deadweight; to what extent imports of beef from Yugoslavia and other new sources have affected the market; and whether butchers are passing on the benefit of current buying prices to consumers.
§ Mr. Soames:Wholesale prices of home-killed beef in recent weeks have been at about the same level as last year in spite of a slightly higher level of marketings. Imports of Yugoslavian beef have been on a small scale only in relation to total marketing and it is impossible to say to what extent these imports have influenced demand for the home product; but in recent weeks Yugoslavian beef has been commanding a higher price than a year ago. There are no supplies of any significance from other new sources. For the first three months 11W of this year, imports from all sources totalled 71,000 tons compared with 70,000 in the same period last year. Home supplies have totalled 235,000 tons compared with 216,000 tons last year. My information on retail prices is that these are generally slightly lower than a year ago, particularly for forequarter cuts.