§ Mr. Fairbairnasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many sheep, cattle and hundredweights of barley had to be sold at average prices in the last years in order to purchase a Ford £4,000 tractor.
§ Mr. BishopThe information requested on the quantities of sheep, cattle and barley which needed to be sold at average prices to realise £4,000 is set out in the following table:
the state of farm overdrafts in Great Farms (Overdrafts) Britain in each year for the last 10 years.
§ Mr. BishopI regret that figures are not available for Great Britain or for 883W overdrafts alone. For the United Kingdom the annual average bank advances—overdrafts and loans—outstanding to farmers are as follows:
Calendar Year (1) £ million 1969 532 1970 529 1971 565 1972 647 1973(2) 778 1974 926 1975 986 1976 1,042 1977 1,297 1978 1470(3) NOTES (1) The annual figures are the average of six quarters—November—previous year—given a weight of one, February, May, August and November each given a weight of two and February (following year) given a weight of one. (2) Figures for this and later years include (3) Forecast.