§ Mr. DavidsonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many beef farmers there were in(a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland at the most recent date for which figures are available. [21758]
§ Mr. RookerFigures taken from the 1996 June Agricultural Census are shown in the following table.
Number of beef farms Number of beef farmers1 Scotland2 15,219 n/a England 58,921 76,837 Wales3 15,478 20,041 Northern Ireland4 22,444 26,498 Notes:
Beef farms are those that recorded any beef breeding cattle or fattening cattle (1 year or over) in their Census return. The figures exclude minor holdings.
1 Farmers are defined as principal farmers, partners and directors for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Figures for Scotland are not available.
2 Source: SOAEFD.
3 Source: Welsh Office.
4 Source: DANI.
§ Mr. DavidsonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much public money was spent to support beef farming in the last year for which figures are available. [21757]
§ Mr. RookerFinancial support (both direct and indirect) to beef farming made by the Agriculture Departments and the Intervention Board during the financial year 1996–97 amounted to £2,091.3 million.This was made up as follows:
489W
£ million Non-BSE related Suckler Cow Premium Scheme 278.2 Beef Special Premium Scheme 252.6 Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowances1 112.0 Other 0.5 Total (Non-BSE related) 643.3 BSE-related Intervention 169.7 Export refunds -0.3 Over Thirty Months Scheme 857.4 Clean Beef Top Up Payments 4.2 Calf Processing Aid Scheme 51.4
£ million Beef Stocks Transfer Scheme 50.9 Beef and Beef Products (disposal service) 0.9 Rendering Industry Support 96.1 Slaughter Industry Support 29.9 Animal Feed Disposal Service 0.3 Suckler Cow Special Payments 77.3 Beef Special Premium Special Payments 42.6 Beef Marketing Payment Scheme 58.2 Other Measures 9.4 Total (BSE-related) 1,448 1 Financial year expenditure not available. This figure is for the 1997 Scheme year expenditure.