§ Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the income of farmers in Northern Ireland for each of the last five years for which the information is available, showing in real and actual terms the income from farms as specified in the groupings used to determine the annual management standards and also the total net income for farmers in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 12 November 1979]: Incomes of farmers according to farm type are estimated from a sample of farmers who co-operate in the Northern Ireland farms management survey. Because the composition of this sample changes from year to year, changes in the income of farmers is best shown by comparing the incomes of identical samples of farms in the survey in consecutive pairs of years. The table below shows the weighted average income of farmers in actual and in real 561W terms on specified types of farm in consecutive pairs of years between 1972–73
NET INCOME PER FARM IN NORTHERN IRELAND IN CURRENT MONEY TERMS BY TYPE OF FARM 1972–73 TO 1977–78 £ per farm Type Dairying Dairying, Pigs and Poultry Mixed Cattle and Sheep Cattle, Sheep and Pigs Pigs and Poultry All Types 1972–73 … … 3,125 3,160 2,954 2,457 2,498 3,683 2,915 1973–74 … … 2,530 2,781 2,488 1,117 2,396 5,194 2,393 1973–74 … … 2,818 2,494 2,789 1,251 2,593 6,218 2,572 1974–75 … … 2,241 2,510 2,091 886 1,893 4,831 2,111 1974–75 … … 2,209 2,357 2,756 892 1,724 5,272 2,224 1975–76 … … 5,676 6,309 8,022 3,663 5,479 11,934 5,989 1975–76 … … 5,352 6,622 8,175 4,000 6,292 12,068 5,861 1976–77 … … 6,475 7,616 10,031 5,415 5,963 13,347 7,098 1976–77 … … 6,749 7,264 9,278 5,882 6,375 9,602 7,092 1977–78 … … 7,084 10,231 5,718 5,015 4,575 12,436 6,436 Net farm income excludes breeding livestock appreciation.