§ Mr. Ridleyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what he now considers to be the minimum acreage upon which farming is economic, and also the optimum acreage, for arable, hill farming, dairy farming and beef farming, respectively; and what study he has given to measures designed to increase the size of holdings.
§ Mr. BishopIt is not possible to state specifically the minimum economic acreage or the optimum acreage for various types of farming. This depends on local factors such as land quality and climate, on farmers' own decisions about the use of their resources and on such variable factors as the level of costs and returns. We already give incentives to farmers to leave non-commercial holdings and for the amalgamation of holdings into commercially viable units. We are now reviewing the effectiveness of the measures.