§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the trends in the number of livestock farms. [52115]
§ Mr. RookerThe trend in the number of livestock holdings in England and Wales is given in the table.
Number of livestock holdings1,2 Year England Wales Total 1987 87,150 24,986 112,136 1988 86,359 24,774 111,133 1989 86,453 24,871 111,324 1990 82,372 24,160 106,532 1991 81,840 23,995 105,835 1992 81,379 23,814 105,193 1993 81,707 23,653 105,360 1994 81,457 23,311 104,768 1995 77,643 22,349 99,992 1996 76,430 22,135 98,565 1997 75,547 21,874 97,421 1Livestock holdings are defined using Main Farm Types (based on 1985 classification) 6 to 20 and 24, i.e. Specialist Pigs, Specialist Poultry, Mixed Pigs and Poultry, Dairy-LFA, Dairy-Lowland, Specialist Sheep-SDA, Specialist Beef-SDA, Mixed Cattle and Sheep-SDA, Cattle and Sheep-DA, Cattle and Sheep-Lowland, Cropping and Dairy, Cropping Cattle and Sheep, Cropping Pig and Poultry, Cropping and Mixed Livestock, Mixed Livestock and Specialist Goats 2Excludes minor holdings Source:
June Agricultural Census