§ Mr. Hordernasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many farmers in the United Kingdom derive their income predominantly from cereal farming.
§ Mr. MacGregorNo information is available on the number of farmers whose incomes are derived predominantly from the production of cereals. At June 1983, however, 22,159 holdings in the United Kingdom were classified as belonging to the specialist cereal category in the farm classification terms adopted by my Department.
§ Mr. Hordernasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a table showing the cost of intervention and storage of cereals held by the European Economic Community each year since 1979, to the latest convenient date, and the proportion of such stocks contributed by the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe information requested is set out in the following table. As stock levels fluctuate throughout the year, it is not possible to indicate for each year as a736W whole the proportion of stocks held in the United Kingdom. The table therefore shows the proportion of each year's Community intervention purchases undertaken in the United Kingdom.
Cost of cereals intervention storage (mecu) Proportion of EC intervention purchases undertaken in United Kingdom (per cent.) 1979 118.5 — 1980 212.8 13 1981 407.9 21 1982 453.4 5 1983 565.6 14
§ Mr. Hordernasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a table showing the price obtained by a wheat farmer and barley farmer for a ton of wheat and barley, respectively, each year for the last five years, and the average income of cereal farmers, and the percentage increase, in the same period.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe information requested on prices, which is published in table 29 of the annual review White Paper 1984 (Cmnd. 9137), is as follows:
Average ex-farm prices (£ per tonne) Wheat Barley 1979 95.92 89.60 1980 99.30 92.84 1981 108.92 100.45 1982 114.04 108.35 1983 125.19 116.83 The best available estimated average net farm income of specialist cereal farms in England and Scotland during each of the last five years for which data are available is as follows:
Average net farm income of Specialist Cereal Farms Year £ per farm 1977–78 7,134 1978–79 9,733 1978–79 8,898 1979–80 7,450 1979–80 6,844 1980–81 8,444 1980–81 9,053 1981–82 9,711 1981–82 9,554 1982–83 16,023 NoteFigures of net farm income are shown for pairs of years. Figures for each pair of years relate to an identical sample of specialist cereal farms in England and Scotland for the two years in question. Differences in figures for the same year reflect different samples.
SourceFarm Management Survey, in England and Scotland.
Information on the change in net farm income per specialist cereal farm is given in table 26 of the annual review White Paper in index terms and is as follows:
737W
Index number of average net farm income per cereals farm in the United Kingdom Year 1977–78 100 1978–79 137
Year 1979–80 114 1980–81 141 1981–82 151 1982–83 256