HC Deb 25 April 1994 vol 242 cc79-80W
Dr. Strang

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what proportion of(a) the total land mass and (b) the agricultural area of each English county

Estimates of the total agricultural land (a) by county and FBS province in 1992
Total agricultural land designated as: Proportion of total land mass (b) designated as: Proportion of agricultural area designated as:
FBS province County SDA DA hectares LFA SDA per cent. DA per cent. LFA per cent. SDA per cent. DA per cent. LFA per cent.
East Midland
Derbyshire 67,759 13,824 81,583 26 5 31 37 8 44
67,759 13,824 81,583 4 1 5 6 1 7
Northern
Cumbria 192,312 40,427 232,740 28 6 34 42 9 51
Durham 77,440 11,873 89,312 32 5 37 49 8 57
Northumberland 235,296 23,594 258,890 47 5 51 62 6 68
505,048 75,894 580,942 34 5 39 50 7 57
North Eastern
Cleveland 7,062 1,766 8,827 12 3 15 25 6 31
North Yorkshire 159,269 47,565 206,834 19 6 25 25 7 32
South Yorkshire 8,810 6,141 14,951 6 4 10 11 7 18
West Yorkshire 29,993 9,305 39,298 15 5 19 30 9 39
205,134 64,776 296,910 13 4 17 19 6 25
North Western
Cheshire 8,812 1,619 10,431 4 1 4 5 1 6
Greater Manchester 6,992 4,873 11,865 5 4 9 17 12 29
Lancashire 59,869 41,076 100,944 20 13 33 27 19 45
Shropshire 29,001 13,632 42,533 8 4 12 10 5 15
Staffordshire 12,711 17,732 30,443 5 7 11 6 9 15
117,384 78,832 196,216 9 6 14 13 8 21
Southern
Hereford and Worcester 10,689 6,518 17,207 3 2 4 3 2 6
10,689 6,518 17,207 .. .. 1 1 .. 1
South Western
Cornwall (including Isles of Scilly) 11,171 43,878 55,048 3 12 16 4 16 20
Devon 71,394 63,743 135,137 11 9 20 14 12 26
Somerset 31,419 2,038 33,457 9 1 10 11 1 12
113,983 109,659 223,642 7 7 14 9 9 18
ENGLAND 1,019,999 349,604 1,369,500 8 3 11 11 4 15

Less than 0.5 per cent.

(a) Area on main holdings with land in the SDA or DA excluding common rough grazing

(b) Including inland water

Sources: Agricultural Census, Municipal yearbook

and the counties as grouped together for the purposes of compiling the farm business survey, is designated (i) severely disadvantaged area, (ii) disadvantaged area and (iii) less-favoured area; and what are the figures for England as a whole;

(2) what is the total hectarage of agricultural land for (a) each English county and (b) each farm business survey county group, which is designated (i) severely disadvantaged area, (ii) disadvantaged area and (c) less-favoured area according to the most recent unweighted figures from the annual farm census.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard

[holding answer 20 April 1994]: The table provides the total hectarage of agricultural land on holdings designated as SDA, DA and LFA, as well as the proportions of total land mass and total agricultural area designated as SDA, DA and LFA, by English county and FBS province in 1992. The area of common rough grazing has been excluded from the figures of agricultural area as details are not available to show the breakdown between SDA, DA and non-LFA land.