asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the average price of milking cows now being sold at market; how this compares with the position a month and two months ago as well as over the same period last year; and how prices at markets in south Yorkshire, south Lancashire, Cheshire and Derbyshire have differed from the national average.
| (£ per head) | ||||||||
| November 1973 | December 1973 | Week ending 30th January 1974 | ||||||
| England and Wales | … | … | … | … | 190·18 | 184·72 | 182·97 | |
| November 1972 | December 1972 | Week ending 31st January 1973 | ||||||
| England and Wales | … | … | … | … | 199·20 | 205·97 | 216·73 | |
| November 1972 | December 1972 | November 1973 | December 1973 | |||||
| South Yorkshire | … | … | … | … | 192·15 | 194·19 | 191·24 | 181·15 |
| South Lancashire | … | … | … | … | 212·67 | 206·67 | 204·60 | 198·09 |
| Cheshire | … | … | … | … | 188·70 | 195·79 | 191·29 | 185·51 |
| Derbyshire | … | … | … | … | 180·06 | 187·75 | 179·28 | 155·97 |
asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cows have been slaughtered in each of the past 10 weeks; how this compares with the number slaughtered in the same period a year and two years ago; what
| NUMBER OF COWS AND BULLS* SLAUGHTERED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM | ||||||||
| Week ending | … | '000† | Week ending | … | '000 | Week ending | … | '000 |
| 17th November 1973 | … | 17 | 18th November 1972 | … | 21 | 20th November 1971 | … | 20 |
| 24th November 1973 | … | 21 | 25th November 1972 | … | 22 | 27th November 1971 | … | 20 |
| 1st December 1973 | … | 20 | 2nd December 1972 | … | 20 | 4th December 1971 | … | 20 |
| 8th December 1973 | … | 21 | 9th December 1972 | … | 21 | 11th December 1971 | … | 18 |
| 15th December 1973 | … | 19 | 16th December 1972 | … | 19 | 18th December 1971 | … | 16 |
| 22nd December 1973 | … | 15 | 23rd December 1972 | … | 13 | 25th December 1971 | … | 10 |
| 29th December 1973 | … | 8 | 30th December 1972 | … | 6 | 1st January 1972 | … | 9 |
| 5th January 1974 | … | 14 | 6th January 1973 | … | 14 | 8th January 1972 | … | 15 |
| 12th January 1974 | … | 21 | 13th January 1973 | … | 18 | 15th January 1972 | … | 18 |
| 19th January 1974 | … | 22 | 20th January 1973 | … | 16 | 22nd January 1972 | … | 17 |
| * Separate slaughter figures for cows and bulls are not available. The number of bulls included is small. | ||||||||
| † Provisional. | ||||||||
| CENSUS NUMBERS OF DAIRY COWS | ||||||
| United Kingdom | June 1973 | June 1972 | June 1971 | |||
| Cows and Heifers in milk | … | … | … | 3,038,167 | 2,941,520 | 2,852,964 |
| Cows in Calf but not in milk | … | … | … | 398,107 | 383,040 | 380,681 |
| Total | … | … | … | 3,436,274 | 3,324,560 | 3,233,645 |
| England and Wales | September 1973 | September 1972 | September 1971 | |||
| Cows and Heifers in milk | … | … | … | 2,346,877 | 2,300,986 | 2,223,020 |
| Cows in Calf but not in milk | … | … | … | 605,442 | 573,783 | 537,424 |
| Total | … | … | … | 2,952,319 | 2,874,769 | 2,760,444 |
| UNITED KINGDOM SALES THROUGH MILK MARKETING SCHEMES | ||||||||
| (Million gallons) | ||||||||
| November 1973 | … | 215·6* | November 1972 | … | 223·1 | November 1971 | … | 209·1 |
| December 1973 | … | 217·3* | December 1972 | … | 226·0 | December 1971 | … | 211·2 |
| January 1974 | … | 218·4† | January 1973 | … | 228·0 | January 1972 | … | 213·0 |
| * Provisional. | ||||||||
| † Part estimated. | ||||||||
The average prices of first quality Friesian cows in milk were as follows:—are now the number of milking cows; and what is the output of milk, indicating how this compares with a year and two years ago.
The information requested is as follows:—