15. Mr. Andy Stewartasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last discussed cereals surpluses with the President of the National Farmers' Union.
§ Mr. GummerMy right hon. Friend and I frequently discuss all aspects of agriculture with the President of the National Farmers' Union.
§ 31. Mr. Forthasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has on (a) the 780W average size of cereal farms in Britain and (b) comparable cereal farms in the rest of the European Economic Community.
§ Mr. GummerThe average area of cereals (excluding maize) grown on farms in Great Britain and the United Kingdom in June 1986 were 46.7 hectares and 43.6 hectares respectively.
Comparable information for other countries in the European Community is available only for 1983 and is shown in the table:
Average area of cereals (excluding maize) on holdings in 1983 Area West Germany 8.3 France 13.0 Italy 3.7 Netherlands 9.4 Belgium 6.9 Luxembourg 9.4 United Kingdom 41.2 Ireland 6.7 Denmark 18.6 Greece 2.9 EC 10 7.9
§ 44. Mr. Leighasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what further representations he has received on compulsory quotas on cereals.
§ Mr. GummerI continue to receive suggestions that the problems of over-production in the cereals sector could best be dealt with by the imposition of compulsory quotas on all cereal growers. I remain opposed to this approach because quotas would stifle initiative, strike hardest at those farmers who are most efficient at growing cereals, who are largely to be found in this country, and would pose enormous administrative problems.
§ 59. Mr. Yeoasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent representations he has received regarding surpluses of cereal products in the European Economic Community.
§ Mr. GummerI continue to receive representations from many different sources.