Lord Chelwoodasked Her Majesty's Government:
By what percentage, or estimated percentages, the incomes of grain growers have increased in real terms in the last five years; how these compare with the incomes over the same period of dairy, beef, sheep, and pig farmers respectively; and to what extent these comparisons are distorted by productivity gains.
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Lord Belstead)Index numbers of net farm income per farm in the United Kingdom for the main types of farm are shown in Table 26 of the White Paper on theAnnual Review of Agriculture 1984 (Cmnd. 9137). They indicate the following percentage changes in real terms (deflated by the RPI) in the five years since 1978–79 including the forecast change in 1983–84:
However, the figures vary considerably from year to year and a different base year can give significantly different results. If, for example, the comparison is made on the basis of a 1979–80 base year, the figures are as follows:
Cereal farms + 27% Dairy farms - 39% LFA cattle and sheep farms - 27% Lowland cattle and sheep farms - 58% Pigs and poultry farms - 81% 1098WA Comparable figures are not available for beef, sheep and pig farms separately. This comparison of trends reflects in part the fact that cereals yields have increased proportionately more during the period than such livestock indicators as milk yields and eggs laid per bird.
Cereal farms + 74% Dairy farms - 2% LFA cattle and sheep farms + 60% Lowland cattle and sheep farms - 6% Pigs and poultry farms - 73%