§ Mr. LansleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many press releases have been issued so far this year; and what the total cost of the production and issuing of press releases was in(a) 1997, (b) 1998, (c) 1999 and (d) 2000 to date. [132779]
§ Mr. MorleyThe total number of press releases issued by MAFF since 1 January this year is 350. They are made available to all press and media bodies through the Central Office of Information (COI) managed News Distribution Service and the Internet at an average cost of £92 per press release. Cost data are not available for 1997 and 1998, but this figure represents a significant saving against an average of £244 per press release in 1999 when printed copies were also distributed via the Royal Mail postal service.
Gross margins per hectare in real terms1 for the Eastern counties of England (£ per hectare) Harvest year 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 Sugar Beet 1,098 1,282 1,224 1,547 1,271 1,188 1,228 1,115 973 951 Winter Wheat 707 739 737 738 779 820 969 792 629 625 Winter Barley 667 580 595 647 672 682 866 681 583 524 Spring Barley 525 472 609 657 613 634 820 534 548 566 Oilseed Rape 736 743 572 596 681 629 781 896 766 576 Beans 556 434 521 778 666 645 635 596 638 481 Peas 603 644 656 712 688 638 745 674 613 439 Potatoes 3,522 2,214 2,291 1,183 2,736 5,876 4,600 1,091 2,203 5,352 All enterprises2 867 604 655 740 777 880 1015 944 815 824 1 Deflated by a 1998 input price index 2Estimates for all enterprises should not be compared to those for the individual enterprises as they will also reflect profitability of other enterprises on other farms (e. g. livestock). Source:
Report on Farming in the Eastern Counties of England (University of Cambridge)