§ Mr. Bishopasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will state the comparative figures of those leaving the agricultural industry year by year for the past 10 years or convenient period.
§ Mr. John MackieFollowing are the figures for the net changes year by year in the numbers of workers employed on agricultural holdings. The number of farmers leaving the industry is not known precisely, but it is believed to be of the order of 2,000 a year.
NET CHANGES IN NUMBERS OF AGRICULTURAL WORKERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM June, 1955-June, 1964
Whole-time regular workers Part-time regular seasonal and temporary worker All workers 1955–1956 - 28,867 - 4,465 - 33,332 1956–1957 - 9,839 + 5,199 - 4,640 1957–1958 - 18,472 - 1,091 - 19,563 1958–1959 - 10,854 - 51 - 10,905 1959–1960 - 21,838 - 4,024 - 25,862 1960–1961 - 25,869 - 6,127 - 31,996 1961–1962 - 20,020 - 8,267 - 28,287 1962–1963 - 15,908 - 6,734 - 22,642 1963–1964 - 29,303 + 2,365 - 26,938 Note—The figures exclude the occupier, his wife, domestic servants and children still at school