HC Deb 20 March 1991 vol 188 cc117-8W
Mr. Ralph Howell

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the average income of a cereal farmer in each of the last five years.

Mr. Curry

The information is not available in the form requested. About one third of the total area of cereals in England is on specialist cereal farms and over a half is on general cropping farms. The following table provides estimates of the net farm income from a sample of these types of farm in England as recorded by the farm business survey.

Average net farm income of specialist cereal and general cropping farms in England
£ per farm
Specialist cereal farms General cropping farms
1985–86 3,800 6,100
1986–87 9,700 17,700
1987–88 1,600 8,400
1988–89 2,100 8,500
1989–90 8,700 21,800

Note: The figures shown relate to samples of farms which change somewhat each year. The movement in incomes from year to year is more accurately measured by a comparison of the results from an identical sample for each year which are published annually in "Farm Incomes in the United Kingdom".

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