§ 55. Mr. Stodartasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many acres of wheat he estimates had been sown for the 1967 harvest by the end of November; and how this figure compares with a year ago.
§ Mr. HoyPreliminary indications are that the acreage this year is lower than last year but it will not be possible to make a firm assessment until the December census results are available next month.
§ 56. Mr. Stodartasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to what extent it is his policy that the acreage of barley should be increased next year; and what action he proposes to take to encourage farmers to sow more wheat next spring.
§ Mr. HoyThe Government's policy is that consistently with our international obligations the production of home-grown cereals generally should increase to meet a substantial part of the increase in demand. The future trend of demand appears more favourable to wheat than to barley and we hope that farmers will bear this in mind in putting land down to cereals this winter and spring.