§ Sir J. Langford-Holtasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the annual storage of cereals by the Home Grown Cereals Authority during each of the last five years; and by how much he expects this to be increased following entry to the Common Market.
§ Mr. Anthony StodartThe Home Grown Cereals Authority has not stored any cereals in the past. Under EEC conditions it is envisaged that from 1st February onwards the authority as agents for the Intervention Board for agricultural produce will negotiate contracts for the purchase and storage of grain offered into intervention. It is not at present possible to forecast precisely the extent of this activity, but the availability of storage is not expected to present difficulties.
§ Sir J. Langford-Holtasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what inquiries he has made about 136W recently developed systems of airtight grain storage; and what type these are.
§ Mr. Anthony StodartOur scientists have studied the storage of moist and dry grain, using the principal systems of airtight storage which are at present available. These are, first, purpose-built metal silos; secondly, standard bolted metal silos that have been subsequently sealed; and, finally, butyl rubber or PVC silos supported by a welded metal mesh, which can be very effective provided that the difficulties of keeping a silo airtight under farm conditions can be overcome.