§ Mr. Macleanasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many producers have now decided to go out of production under the milk outgoers scheme; and whether more are to be invited to join the scheme.
§ Mr. MacGregorBy 15 February, 1,297 producers in England and Wales had undertaken to surrender 166.5 million litres of quota in a full year. Last week we sent further invitations to another 290 producers with up to 500,000 litres each. As individual producers take their decisions about whether or not to go out of production we may need to replace those who drop out. In preparation for this we are now writing to all those larger producers who have not yet been invited to join the scheme, to ask them to indicate definitely whether they still wish to join. By the end of March all those with a continued interest in the scheme will be given a firm indication as to whether or not they can surrender their quota as outgoers.