§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the number of companies owning agricultural land and the number of holdings and acreage so owned.
§ Mr. MacGregorNo official statistics are available on the ownership of agricultural land. However, following the passing of the Agriculture (Amendment) Act last year, which widened the Minister's powers to ask questions on land ownership we are currently considering as to how best to improve statistics on land ownership and occupation.
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§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish in the Official Report such estimates as he has been able to make concerning the number of persons owning more than one agricultural holding and, in particular, the numbers holding two or more holdings in excess of 50 hectares.
§ Mr. MacGregorInformation on the number of persons owning more than one agricultural holding is not available.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will supplement table 4 of the annual review White Paper, Cmnd. 9423, with a table in the Official Report showing (a) the number of holdings of crops and grass with more than 200 and more than 300 hectares and their percentage of the total area, (b) the number of holdings with more than 500 and more than 1,000 standard man days together with their percentage contribution to production and (c) numbers and volume for holdings of more than 40 hectares of sugar beet, 100 dairy cows, 100 beef cows, 1,000 sheep, 50,000 laying fowls and 250,000 broilers.
§ Mr. MacGregorSuch information as is readily available is contained in "Agricultural Statistics United Kingdom 1983" published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.