HC Deb 07 March 1978 vol 945 cc613-4W
Mr. Adley

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries arid Food (1) if he will state, for each year since 1945, the number of head of beef-cattle a farmer would have needed to possess, at prevailing market prices on a given date, to equal the cost of a tractor;

(2) if he will state, for each year since 1945, the number of gallons of milk a farmer would have had to sell at the currently prevailing price, to equal the cost of a tractor.

Mr. Bishop

The typical tractor a farmer buys now is a very different machine from the one he bought in the 1940s or 1950s. The horse power has at least doubled and other improvements have enabled him to make economies particularly in the use of labour to set against the cost of the tractor. None of the tractors made in the 1940s or even in the 1950s are made now and therefore it is not meaningful to give such a long run of figures, showing the cost of a parti- cular tractor in terms of gallons of milk or head of cattle.