§ 12. Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the current average income of cereal farmers in Scotland and on the change which this represents from the previous year. [28079]
§ 14. Mr. PriorTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the current average income of pig farmers and the change which this represents from the previous year. [28081]
§ Mr. MacdonaldThe Scottish Office does not collect any information on the income levels of pig farmers. In the cereal sector, we do not hold figures on the average income of farmers. However, net farm income, which is a measure of the farm business, had declined sharply over this year from last.
§ 25. Mr. SwayneTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will estimate the effect on farm incomes in Scotland of parity between the green pound and sterling. [28093]
§ Mr. MacdonaldIt is not possible to isolate the impact of currency fluctuations from other factors that determine farm incomes. However, the freeze in the conversion rates used to calculate the sterling value of most subsidy payments has protected farming from the full effect of sterling appreciation. This is estimated to benefit Scottish farmers by around £60 million over 1997 and 1998.