HC Deb 28 July 1988 vol 138 cc390-1W
Mr. Nicholas Bennett

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to publish target prices for cattle and sheep for January 1989; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Donald Thompson

I published the target price scale for the beef variable premium scheme and the seasonal scale of weekly guide prices for the sheep variable price scheme on 22 July. The tables published included figures for January 1989, but, as explained in the press notices, those for beef are provisional and depend upon the extension of the existing BVPS after its expiry at the end of 1988, while those for sheep will be reduced in due course by the operation of the 1989 sheepmeat stabiliser, the level of which is still to be decided by the EC Commission.