Fodder (Hansard, 11 December 1974)

§ Mr. Peart

We have now examined, in consultation with the National Farmers' Union, what practical measures can be taken on the total supply of cereals and fodder, on cash and credit, and on the distribution and most efficient use of the available fodder.

It is clear that we must look to the cereal crop to make up some of the animal feed requirement resulting from the shortfall in hay production this year because of the weather. The total United Kingdom cereal crop is now estimated at 15.9 million tons, 800,000 tons higher than last year. This will be a substantial help to livestock feeding this winter. On the basis of our estimate of the slightly larger cattle herd and sheep flock and the smaller pig herd this winter, we assess the United Kingdom import requirement for grain to be ¼-½ million tons higher in 1974–75 than in 1973–74. Although world supplies of feed grains 162W are tight, I anticipate that traders will be able to meet a requirement of this order.

Secondly, as regards cash and credit, I have already taken the major steps necessary to improve the cash flow of cattle and sheep producers. Beef farmers now have the benefit of an assured floor in their returns; this week it is £19.35 per cwt. and it will rise to £21.81 by the later part of January. Prices for fat and store cattle and sheep have improved from their low levels. Cattle and sheep rearers will shortly be receiving substantially increased payments as a result of the advancement of the hill cow and beef cow subsidies and the higher hill sheep subsidies. The effect of this is that beef cow producers, for example, may expect to receive early in the new year double the payment per cow which they received at the same time last year. I have given instructions that the payments are to be made as early as possible in 1975. These will increase cash flow at once by about £44 million.

I propose now also to introduce two new arrangements. First, in order to encourage the movement of cattle from those hill farms which may be particularly short of fodder to lowland farms where some grass or other feed may still be available, I intend to make available to hill farmers a payment of £15 for each hill cow which is moved from the hill farm for feeding on another farmer's holding outside the hill area. This will apply to hill cows moved after this announcement and before 31st January 1975. Hill farmers wishing to take advantage of this will be required to give prior notice, in England and Wales, to the Ministry's divisional office. It will be a condition of payment that the hill cows are kept for at least two months on the receiving holding before they return to the hill farm. Conditions will also be necessary to ensure that any movement of hill cows does not prejudice the brucellosis eradication and other animal health programmes. This measure should be of some assistance in relieving pressure on fodder supplies.

Payments under this arrangement, if taken up by hill farmers, could be of the order of £150,000. For these payments I shall be relying on the authority of the Estimates and the confirming Appropriation Act. Supplementary Estimates will 163W be presented in due course, and meanwhile I shall have recourse to the Contingencies Fund.

Secondly, I intend to ease for hill cattle fanners the arrangements by which the Government already underwrite guarantees of bank loans through the Agricultural Credit Corporation. For loans taken out between 1st January and 1st April 1975 up to the value of his 1974 hill cow subsidy payment a hill farmer will be able to benefit from a bank loan guarantee fully underwritten without charge by my Ministry. Such loans will be at commercial rates over a period of not more than three years, and the banks will be using their normal criteria for assessing creditworthiness. I recognise that the banks are already lending widely within these criteria, but there may be cases where additional loans can now be made as a result of the collateral provided by the Ministry guarantee. It will be a condition of these loans that the hill farmer should make satisfactory arrangements for repayment.

Lastly, as regards the distribution and best use of the available fodder, the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service will continue to make available the fullest advice on livestock feeding this winter. In order to encourage the use, when necessary, of the available analytical and diagnostic services I intend to suspend between now and 1st June 1975 some of the charges made for them. The services affected relate directly to feeding stuffs or animal nutrition and include, for example, the analysis of concentrate or forage samples. In some cases ADAS advisers will be able to give adequate assessments of the nutritional value of fodder through examination in the field. Furthermore, I intend to postpone for the same period a substantial increase in all charges for analytical and diagnostic services which would otherwise have been necessary at this time.

The National Farmers' Union for England and Wales is launching today its own self-help scheme intended to help the distribution of the available fodder where it is most needed. I welcome this scheme. My technical and professional officers will support the scheme by drawing the union's attention, where the farmer himself agrees, to available supplies and by advising on any known case of particular need.