§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the total acreage of land in England and Wales now in set-aside; and what was the total cost of payments made to farmers owning such land during 1995. [33104]
§ Mr. BaldryThe total acreage of land in England and Wales is set aside under the arable area payments scheme in 1994–95 was 1,294,834 acres and payments to claimants, who may or may not be the owners of the land, for that year totaled £176,818,295 up to the end of May 1996. The total acreage of land currently in set-aside will not be known until the arable area applications for the 1995–96 scheme year have been checked and collated.