§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the average level of subsidy per farm holding paid to(a) hill farmers, (b) dairy farmers and (c) cereal farmers at 1996 prices in each year since 1979. [31087]
§ Mr. RookerInformation on direct subsidies by type of farm is available only from 1984–85. The figures in the table do not include indirect subsidies such as market support measures. Due to a change in the definition of farm types, data for years before 1987 are not wholly comparable with the more recent data. Data for 1987–88 are given on both farm type definitions to give an indication of the degree of change.
Subsidies paid direct to full-time farms in England: £/farm in real terms at 1996 prices, as deflated by the RPI Year Dairy Hill and upland livestock Specialist cereals 1984–85 900 15,800 800 1985–86 1,100 15,900 900 1986–87 800 13,800 800 1987–88 600 12,500 700
Revised farm type definitions: LFA cattle Year Dairy and sheep Cereals 1987–88 500 11,900 800 1988–89 700 12,900 1,200 1989–90 1,100 11,800 1,700 1990–91 1,300 13,200 2,000 1991–92 1,400 16,800 3,000 1992–93 1,500 18,600 11,500 1993–94 3,700 22,900 28,100 1994–951 4,600 23,300 34,900 1995–96 5,300 28,200 41,800 1996–97 5,500 29,100 40,900 1 From 1994–95 subsidies were recorded in the year in which they were due. In previous years, subsidies were recorded in the year in which they were paid. Source:
Farm Business Survey (England).
The figures in the table need to be interpreted with care because of the different mechanisms used to support agriculture and the changes in these mechanisms. For 600W instance, subsidies paid to dairy farms reflect the direct payments in respect of other enterprises on the farm; support for milk is through market prices. Also, the MacSharry reforms of 1992 switched some support from consumers to taxpayers.