HC Deb 11 March 1987 vol 112 cc216-7W
Mr. Geraint Howells

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many sheep farmers in each of the Welsh counties have 1,000 ewes or over; and what were the corresponding figures for each of the last 10 years.

Mr. Nicholas Edwards

The information is given in the following table:

Number of Holdings in Wales with 1,000 or more breeding ewes
Clwyd Dyfed Mid Glamorgan South and West Glamorgan Gwent Gwynedd Powys Wales
1977 51 60 27 8 10 101 181 438
1978 56 68 25 9 13 102 188 461
1979 56 68 25 9 10 99 196 463
1980 61 70 30 10 13 104 211 499
1981 64 76 28 11 13 116 226 534
1982 71 79 38 9 16 130 242 585
1983 79 87 35 10 16 142 260 629
1984 81 93 34 11 18 162 275 674
1985 80 93 33 13 17 162 281 679
1986 87 93 32 13 17 168 289 699

Source: June Agricultural Census for main holdings only.

Mr. Geraint Howells

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many lowland sheep farmers in each of the Welsh counties have 500 breeding ewes or over; and what were the corresponding figures for each of the last 10 years.

Number of lowland holdings in Wales with 500 or more breeding ewes
Clwyd Dyfed Mid Glamorgan South and West Glamorgan Gwent Gwynedd Powys Wales
1977 26 18 5 5 8 48 5 115
1978 27 27 4 6 6 54 9 133
1979 25 25 6 7 9 58 10 140
1980 33 28 8 8 11 64 12 164
1981 34 28 9 8 12 66 11 168
1982 31 31 11 6 11 70 12 172
1983 38 37 16 8 14 78 11 202
1984 42 47 15 10 12 89 12 227
1985 45 46 15 13 12 98 16 245
1986 51 48 16 13 16 113 14 271

Source: June Agricultural Census of main holdings.

Note: Lowland holdings are those defined as being outside the less-favoured area.

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