§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her assessment is of the relative number of(a) beef, (b) dairy and (c) sheep sales being concluded (i) through a registered auction mart and (ii) by private farm-to-farm sale in each of the last three years. [84166]
§ Mr. MorleyThe available data are shown in the table. Livestock markets were disrupted by the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 2001, and the last three years for which data are available are 1998–2000. They include livestock sold for slaughter and farm-to-farm sales through markets. No data are available within my Department for Northern Ireland, for the split between beef and dairy cattle, or for private farm-to-farm sales.
Throughput through livestock auction markets in Great Britain 1998 1999 2000 Cattle (including dairy) 2,455 2,483 2,422 Calves 523 454 436 Sheep 17,060 17,564 17,596 Total 20,038 20,501 20,454 Source:
The Livestock Auctioneers' Association.