§ Mr. Robert Atkinsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many producers have now committed themselves to becoming outgoers; and whether any more are to be invited to join the scheme.
§ Mr. MacGregorBy 25 January 1985 1,237 producers in England and Wales had committed themselves to surrendering a total of 150.3 million litres of quota in a full year. Others still have to decide whether or not to go out of production, and as their decisions become known we will send out further invitations as and when we need to replace any who drop out.
To date, invitations have been sent to those with up to 367,000 litres, and this week a further 80 producers, with up to 387,000 litres, are to be invited to join the scheme. Previously we have excluded a small number of producers because their milk production was only a relatively small part of their overall farming enterprise. However, now that we are increasingly inviting much larger producers, this restriction is no longer being applied.