§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on farm income levels for farmers in the Ribble Valley and Fulwood in the past five years. [165510]
§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on farm income levels for farmers in Birkenhead in the past five years. [166612]
§ Alun MichaelOwing to the small number of farms in the constituencies of Ribble Valley and Fulwood and Birkenhead, there is no robust data available on farm incomes for farmers in that area over the last five years. Net farm income for farms in the North EU "Super Region" and for England over the last five years are shown in the table below.
Net Farm Income 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 North EU Super Region 8,272 8,659 12,456 16,457 18,512 England 10,359 7,981 9,886 13.558 16,435 Source: Farm Business Survey Net farm income is the return to the principal farmer and spouse for their manual and managerial labour and to the tenant-type capital of the business.