§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the Government intend pursuing a bracken eradication programme in the near future.
§ Mrs. Fenner[pursuant to her reply, 24 January 1986, c. 342]: We have no plans to introduce a bracken eradication programme. My Ministry already makes grants available for bracken control.
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the favoured means of dealing with the encroachment of bracken on to agricultural land; and if he will make a statement as to the extent of bracken coverage in the United Kingdom and the problems this poses.
§ Mrs. Fenner[pursuant to her reply, 24 January 1986, c. 342]: The Agricultural Development and Advisory Service provides information to farmers on various methods for controlling or eradicating bracken including ploughing, cutting or crushing fronds, use of heavy stocking rates and treatment with appropriate herbicides particularly from the air. The main problem is the encroachment on good grazing land and general access in many upland areas. The decision on the particular method to be used is left to the farmer in the light of local circumstances. Bracken contains poisonous substances which can cause unthriftiness or death in animals which consume the fern in sufficient quantity.
Official statistics are not collected on the area of bracken in the United Kingdom but estimates put forward by research organisations suggest that between 160,000 and 200,000 hectares of land in England and Wales are infested with bracken.