§ Mr. LevittTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the impact of the scheduled end of the calf slaughter scheme on the beef market. [57297]
§ Mr. RookerWe expect that some of the calves which might have been slaughtered under the Calf Processing Aid Scheme will be slaughtered on farm, some will be slaughtered as young calves for pet food and some reared for beef. We do not anticipate any significant effect on the UK beef market. Closing the Scheme on 30 November, as we have announced, will not affect the beef market until the beginning of the year 2000 when the calves reared as beef start to come on the market.