Set-aside Schemes (Hansard, 31 October 1988)

HC Deb 31 October 1988 vol 139 c506W 506W

§ Mr. Andrew Welsh
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the number of hectares and the number of farms involved in set-aside schemes stating the number of farms for which 100 per cent. set-aside has been requested.

§ Mr. Michael Forsyth
Provisional returns indicate that over 400 farmers in Scotland have applied to enter the set-aside scheme in 1988–89 and that the total area of eligible land proposed for set-aside is about 14,800 hectares.
About 140 applicants have proposed to set aside all the eligible land on their holdings: in total some 5,000 hectares representing an average of about 44 per cent. of the total area of their holdings; the average set-aside area per applicant is about 36 hectares.