§ Mr. Haymanasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to what extent the numbers of small farms are declining in each of the south-western counties.
§ Mr. Scott-HopkinsI regret that this information is not available for small full-time farms, but only for agricultural holdings, many of which may be worked only part time or may form part of a larger agricultural unit. The following table gives the numbers of agricultural holdings under 50 acres—not counting rough grazings—from 1958 to 1962. Much of the decrease is due to the disappearance of part-time farm units.
first made available, to 15th November, 1963, the cost to the Exchequer of fowl pest vaccine, and of its transport and storage, less the sale price, has been approximately £682,000. This includes stocks of vaccine on hand which are expected to realise approximately £90,000 on sale at the subsidised price.