§ 20. Mr. Hardyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the size of the national dairy herd at the present time; by what proportion this has reduced in the last four years; and how this contraction in the United Kingdom compares with that in other member states of the Community.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe most recent estimates available indicate that in December 1984 there were 3,311,000 dairy cows in the national dairy herd. This represents an increase of about 1 per cent. on December 1980. For the Community as a whole the dairy herd has declined by 0.5 per cent. over the same period.