HC Deb 05 March 1969 vol 779 cc115-6W
Mr. Pardoe

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will estimate how many individual farms were in operation in Cornwall in December, 1964, and December, 1968;

(2) if he will estimate how many farm workers were employed in Cornwall in December, 1964, and December, 1968.

Mr. Hoy

Figures from the December agricultural census are subject to considerable sampling errors at county level, since the census includes only one-third of the parishes in each county. The following figures are therefore taken from the complete census held in June:

Number of farm workers (including family workers)
Number of holdings* Regular Whole-time Regular Part-time Seasonal and Casual Total
1964 12,361 6,907 1,600 1,973 10,480
1968 10,013† 5,446 1,064 1,540 8,050
* For census purposes, a holding consists of land of more than one acre used for agriculture for which a separate census return is made. It does not necessarily correspond to an "individual farm" because some holdings which are farmed with other holdings as part of a larger single unit are returned separately in the census, while others are returned as part of the larger unit.
† In June, 1968, some 47,000 holdings in England and Wales were excluded from the census on the ground that their contribution to agricultural output was negligible. About 1,690 of these were in Cornwall; they accounted for 21 regular part-time workers and 14 seasonal and casual workers.