HL Deb 12 December 1974 vol 355 c910WA
Lord HYLTON

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Why four of the thirteen experimental husbandry farms have dairy herds, whereas nine arc doing work on beef production; whether they think this is a correct balance of experimental work and what steps will be taken to review the situation in the light of the relative importance to the national economy of dairying and beef production.

Lord BESWICK

The work undertaken by the experimental husbandry farms needs to be considered together with other experimental work in the United Kingdom. Overall there is a reasonable balance in experimental work between dairying and beef production: a significant amount of investigational work in dairying is also carried out, by the Agriculture and Development Advisory Service, other than at experimental centres. The total effort and the balance of effort is kept under review as part of Joint Consultative Organisation on research and development.