§ Mr. Strangasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many dairy producers ceased production in 1980 and 1981 respectively.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithI regret that the information is not available in the form requested. However, the table below shows the numbers of registered milk producers within the United Kingdom, at March in each of the last three years.
March 1979 March 1980 March 1981 England and Wales 46,972 43,358 41,257 Scotland 3,500 3,330 3,147 Northern Ireland 10,336 9,559 9,105 United Kingdom 60,808 56,247 53,509 These figures show a continuation of the trends established in previous years.