§ 1988. Mr. David PorterTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the average size of pig herd and the total number of herds for the years(a) 1960, (h) 1970, (c) 1980, (d) 1985, (e) 1986, (f) 1987 and (g)
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§ Mr. RyderThe information requested is given in the table. The data covers England and Wales and is taken from the annual agricultural census.
Number of holdings with pigs Number of pigs Average num-ber per hold-ing 1960 110,664 4,336,669 39 1970 59,853 6,408,391 107 1980 22,973 6,607,619 288 1985 17,961 6,792,121 378 1986 17,446 6,868,512 394 1987 16,865 6,871,733 407 1988 15,960 6,857,451 430 Note:
The comparison between the 1970 and 1980 figures has been slightly affected by changes in the size threshold which excluded very small holdings from the annual census from 1980 onwards.