§ Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the current position regarding sales of eggs, egg production and numbers of laying hens.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonContact with major packers indicates considerable variations in sales of shell eggs on to the United Kingdom market but it is thought that these are around 20 to 25 per cent. below the levels experienced in November. Throughput at packing stations is now about 11 per cent. down on November. The balance of throughput is going for export and into egg products. At the agricultural census taken on 1 December 1988 the number of egg-laying fowls in the United Kingdom was 36.6 million.