§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the turnover of wheat and barley from the 1983 harvest in the intervention system; what quantity of this grain was disposed of within the United Kingdom, elsewhere in the EEC, in other countries, and as food aid, respectively; and what stocks were still on hand at the 1984 harvest.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe following table shows United Kingdom intervention purchases, disposals opening stocks and closing stocks of wheat and barley for the marketing year 1983–84.
Wheat (tonnes) Barley (tonnes) Stocks at 1.8.83 271,706 448,554 Purchases: August 1983–July 1984 27,611 377,140 Disposals: United Kingdom 105,625 53,734 Other EEC countries — — Non-ECC countries 109,412 698,863 (of which food aid 84,412) Stocks at 31.7.84 83,510 70,604 Figures do not reconcile because of stock gains or losses at individual stores.
§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what tonnage of wheat and barley is currently held in intervention stores in England and Wales; and if he will estimate what additional stocks of cereals from the 1984 harvest will have to be acquired by the intervention board.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe quantities of wheat and barley held in intervention stores in England and Wales on 30 September were as follows:
Tonnes Wheat Barley Bread Feed 66,880 306,026 286,349 The quantities in store in the United Kingdom as a whole on 22 October were as follows: 1114W
Tonnes Wheat Barley Bread Feed 66,880 622,271 542,874 A further 1.2 million tonnes of grain had been offered to the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce on that date. It is not possible to make a realistic estimate of any further offers that might arise before the end of the season as this will depend on home and export demand for grain and the movement of market prices over the season; the allocation of the 3 million tonnes Community quota for breadwheat; and also whether all grain available for offer into intervention will meet the specified quality standards.