HC Deb 24 March 1994 vol 240 cc385-6W
Mr. Morley

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many dairy farms there were in Northern Ireland in each year since 1985.

Mr. Ancram

In the Northern Ireland agricultural census, until 1992 a farm was classified as a specialist dairying farm if dairying accounted for over two-thirds of the farm's total standard gross margin and as a mainly dairying farm if the proportion was between half and two thirds and if dairying was the largest enterprise. The numbers of such farms are given in the table for each year between 1985 and 1992.

Specialist Dairying Mainly Dairying All Dairying
1985 5,605 1,770 7,375
1986 5,465 1,674 7,139
1987 5,334 1,567 6,901
1988 5,079 1,609 6,688
1989 4,897 1,631 6,528
1990 4,733 1,718 6,451
1991 4,553 1,805 6,358
1992 4,319 1,854 6,173

A new system of farm typology was introduced in 1993 and under this 5,124 farms were classified as dairy farms. On that new basis the number of dairy farms in 1992 was 5,235.

Forward to