§ Mr. Geraint Howellsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many farmers in England are owner-occupiers; how many tenant farmers there are farming over three hectares; and what were the corresponding figures for 1966 and 1976.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonAt the 1985 agricultural census, the last available, the recorded number of wholly or mainly owner-occupied farms in England was 109,000. There were 44,800 wholly or mainly rented farms and, of these, 42,500 were over 3 hectares. The corresponding figures for 1976 are not comparable with these because of the change of threshold in 1980 for inclusion in the annual census. There are no corresponding statistics for1966.