§ Miss Quennellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will state the formula used by his Department in Command Paper No. 3558 in the references to forecast actual farming net income, estimated actual farming net income, farming income and net income; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HoyIncome is defined for these purposes as the reward for the manual and managerial labour of the farmer and his wife and for the use of the occupier's investment. In making the determinations published in the White Paper, the Government paid particular regard to the need for the industry to have resources for further investment.
§ Miss Quennellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the normal weather conditions to which actual farm net income forecasts are adjusted in Command Paper No. 3558; and what are the criteria applied in such adjustments.
§ Mr. HoyThe effects of abnormal weather conditions on net farm income are assessed during the technical discussions with the Farmers' Unions before each Annual Review, in order to facilitate the comparison of basic trends in farm income year by year. There is no firm definition of "normal weather conditions" as such. Each of the items of224W output and input are examined separately, so that any necessary adjustments can be made to the total net income figure.