§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the level of change in farm incomes between 2001 and 2002. [106383]
§ Mr. MorleyTotal income from farming in the UK in 2002 is estimated to be £2.36 billion which is 15 per cent. (14 per cent. in real terms) higher than its 2001 level. Total income from farming is income generated by production within the agriculture industry, including subsidies, and represents business profits plus remuneration for work done by owners and other unpaid workers. Total income from farming per full time person equivalent rose by 19 per cent. (18 per cent. in real terms) to £11,107.
Although having risen in each of the last two years, total income from farming is still 62 per cent. below its peak in 1995 (after more than doubling between 1990 and 1995). The long term trend in income has been downwards although it rose and fell dramatically in the nineties due to changes in exchange rates, world commodity prices and the impact of BSE.
More detailed information on farm incomes can be found in a Statistics News Release titled Provisional estimates of farm incomes in the United Kingdom' published on 30 January 2003 (amended 31 January 2003), which can be found onthe Defra website at http://www.defra.gov.uk/esq/work_htm/Notices/account.pdf, and in the publications Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2002 and Farm Incomes in the United Kingdom, which may be found on the Defra website at http://www.defra.qov.Uk/esq/m publications.htm.