§ Mr. FlookTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers there were in dairy farming in each year since 1992, broken down by(a) conventional and (b) organic farming. [137381]
§ Mr. MorleyData for the total number of farmers, partners, directors and spouses combined are collected annually from the June agricultural and horticultural census as a total. The following figures relate to holdings where dairy is the predominant activity, a breakdown between conventional and organic farming is not available.
Total farmers, partners, directors and spouses (full and part-time) in England on dairy type holdings Number Main holdings only 1992 40,464 1993 35,665 1994 39,744 1995 37,844 1996 36,656 1997 35,104 1998 34,405 1999 33,216 Main and minor holdings 2000 31,418 2001 29,732 2002 30,014 Notes
1. Spouses are only included if they are working on the holding.
2. Due to a register improvement exercise in 2001 figures prior to this are not directly comparable with later results.
Source
June Agricultural Census