HC Deb 02 April 1990 vol 170 cc446-7W
Miss Emma Nicholson

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the trend in the number of farms on which it is the farmer's sole occupation to run the farm; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Curry

Information is not available in the precise form requested. The following table gives the number of whole-time farmers, partners and directors in England over the last 10 years as collected at the June agricultural census:

Year at June Number of whole-time farmers, partners and directors
1980 136,565
1981 134,428
1982 133,579
1983 132,922
1984 131,682
1985 129,830
1986 128,473
1987 126,671
1988 124,518
1989 122,351

Miss Emma Nicholson

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to help young entrants into farming.

Mr. Curry

As the Minister said in his reply of 8 March to my hon. Friend the Member for Elmet (Mr. Batiste),Official Report, column 839, this Department gives grants to young farmers under the farm and conservation grant regulations at rates 25 per cent. higher than for other farmers.

We had also hoped to introduce a scheme to lend milk quota to new entrants. However, the Commission has ruled that there is no basis in Community law for such a scheme and has declined to propose the necessary changes at this stage. In view of strong objections to a scheme based on outright grant of quota, the Government have decided not to proceed with such a scheme.

Miss Emma Nicholson

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many people are employed for each one hundred hectares on farms of(a) under 200 hectares, (b) between 200 and 1,000 hectares and (c) over 1,000 hectares.

Mr. Curry

The information for England is given in the table, and is taken from the June 1989 agricultural census. Persons employed here cover all categories of the work force (full-time or part-time) including farmers, partners, directors, managers, family and hired workers, and. seasonal or casual employees.

Total area of holding Persons employed per 100 hectares
Under 200 ha 6.3
200 and under 1,000 ha 2.2
1,000 ha and over 1.2

Miss Emma Nicholson

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if his Department has any plans to introduce definitions of small, medium and large farms.

Mr. Curry

We have no plans to introduce such definitions, which would have limited relevance given the variations in types of farms and in farming conditions.