§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much land in(a) the United Kingdom and (b) Europe is used for (i) grazing and (ii) growing food for animals; and what the figures were 10 years ago. [156835]
§ Alun MichaelThe information is as follows:
(a)UK
(i)Area of land (hectares) used for grazing in the United Kingdom 1993 2003 Permanent grass 5,274,280 5,683,469 Temporary grass 1,582,160 1,200,550 Sole rights rough grazing 4,878,598 4,329,287 Common rough grazing 1,228,901 1,236,392 (ii) As some crops are grown for human as well as animal consultation, it is not possible to provide a complete total of the crops grown for animals but the June agricultural census indicates that the totals of crops grown specifically for stock feeding are:
Total fodder crops1 1993 388,081 2003 414,877 1 Includes Turnips and Swedes, Fodder, beet and mangolds, Kale, Cabbage, savoy, kohlrabi and rape, all others for stock feeding. Source: June Agricultural Census (b) Europe
Comparable figures are published from the EU Farm Structure Survey (Farm Structure Survey 1999/2000 ISBN 92–894—5618—3). The latest estimates for the Survey in 1999–2000 indicate that the area of permanent grassland and meadow was 45 m hectares for the EU 15 and 9 m hectares for the UK.
Separate figures are not available for stock feeding crops.
Fuller information on the surveys and results can be obtained from the Eurostat website.