§ Dr. StrangTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) pursuant to her answer of 2 March,Official Report, columns 744–46, if she will publish the same information for less-favoured area specialist sheep farms;
(2) pursuant to her answer of 2 March, Official Report, columns 744–46, if she will provide a further breakdown of the information requested for sheep, cattle, cattle and sheep and in addition for specialist sheep farms and mixed cattle and sheep, giving unweighted estimates and distinguishing between the results from the annual farm census and the farm business survey.
§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard[holding answer 10 March 1994]: The further breakdown of the information requested is shown in the table. The numbers and proportions of farms for each type and size are taken from the June census and the estimates of net farm income are weighted averages from the farm business survey.
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LFA livestock farms in England: holdings and net farm income by ESU size group ESU size group Holdings (as at June 1992) Net farm income 1992–931 (£'000) Number Proportion Farms classified as SDA Specialised sheep <8 1,091 41 — 8<16 402 15 11.0 16<28 384 14 28<40 267 10 40<60 284 11 22.4 60<100 174 7 100<200 48 2 35.7 200 and over 4 0 All sizes 2,654 100 15.1 ESU per holding Average of all sizes 22 — — Average of over 8 ESUs 36 — — Farms classified as SDA Specialised beef <8 1,075 58 — 8<16 330 18 — 16<28 239 13 — 28<40 93 5 — 40<60 68 4 — 60<100 33 2 — 100<200 12 1 — 200 and over 2 0 — All sizes 1,852 100 — ESU per holding Average of all sizes 13 — — Average of over 8 ESUs 25 — — Farms classified as SDA Mixed cattle and sheep <8 738 20 — 8<16 488 13 9.6 16<28 632 17 28<40 555 15 40<60 608 16 22.6 60<100 543 14 100<200 175 5 65.9 200 and over 18 0 All sizes 3,757 100 17.8
ESU size group Holdings (as at June 1992) Net farm income 1992–931 (£'000) Number Proportion ESU per holding Average of all sizes 37 — — Average of over 8 ESUs 45 — — Farms classified as DA cattle and sheep <8 1,686 47 — 8<16 689 19 3.5 16<28 497 14 28<40 256 7 40<60 224 6 11.6 60<100 160 4 100<200 63 2 71.1 200 and over 4 0 All sizes 3,579 100 5.5 ESU per holding Average of all sizes 18 — — Average of over 8 ESUs 31 — — All farms classified as cattle and sheep (LFA)2 <8 4,590 39 — 8<16 1,909 16 7.7 16<28 1,752 15 28<40 1,171 10 40<60 1,184 10 21.7 60<100 910 8 100<200 298 3 61.8 200 and over 28 0 All sizes 11,842 100 13.7 ESU per holding Average of all sizes 24 — — Average of over 8 ESUs 37 — — 1 Weighted averages. Unweighted averages are not appropriate as they do not accurately reflect the distribution of farms.
Performance measures by size of farm in England, 1992–931 SDA specialist sheep farms SDA mixed cattle and sheep farms Output (£'000) per labour unit Small 22 24 Medium 31 37 Large 32 55 All sizes 27 33 Output per £100 of total assets (£) Small 22 20 Medium 29 26 Large 39 27 All sizes 26 24 Output per £100 of total input (£)2 Small 101 97 Medium 118 112 Large 123 128 All sizes 109 109 1 The size groups are: small (8 to <40 ESUs), medium (40 to <100 ESUs) and large (100+ ESUs). 2 Total input includes rental value, tenant-type inputs and farmer and spouse manual labour, but excludes interest payments.