§ Mr. Buchanan-Smithasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what he estimates to be the required size of the United Kingdom pig breeding herd to produce 51 per cent. of the home demand for bacon; and how this compares with the present size of the herd;
(2) what estimate he has made of the capacity of the pig industry to fulfil in 1968 the United Kingdom's quota of the Bacon Sharing Agreement.
§ Mr. Hoy:The minimum allocation to the United Kingdom industry for the period of 12 months beginning in April, 1968 is some 30,000 tons higher than the forecast output up to March, 1968. However, I am sure that the curing industry will make every effort to meet its 1968–69 allocation from the greater number of pigs that should progressively become available to all users. The size of the breeding herd if curers were filling 51 per cent. of the demand for bacon could be estimated only by making such arbitrary assumptions about how this position was reached that any figure would be misleading.