§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, further to his written reply of 5 March, Official Report, column 265, concerning domestic and overseas prices of grains, whether the export price of feed barley from the United States of America is normally the same as that of maize; what accounts for the discount on the Canadian price; whether the higher price for maize reflects its nutritional value; and to what extent United Kingdom farmers would make use of maize rather than other grains in the absence of any restrictions on imports.
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§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithThe export price of feed barley from the United States is often higher than that of maize, despite the higher feed value of maize. There is no single reason why United States and Canadian barley prices differ. A wide range of factors, including the different ports for which the prices are quoted, quality differences, availability of supplies and market demand would influence export prices. The price of maize is higher than that of other feedgrains in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in the Community mainly because maize, unlike the other feedgrains, is not in surplus and the price level is influenced by that of imported supplies. The extent to which United Kingdom farmers would use more maize if the import restrictions, which are an integral part of the European Community's support arrangements for grain, were lifted, would depend largely on what alternative arrangements were then introduced to support the production of competing grains in the United Kingdom.