Suckling Cows

Mr. Wm. Ross
asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the average net profit on a suckling cow in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years, and the estimate for 1979 where the cows were (a) on a less favoured area--------------
|        | | |
--------------
|        | | |
--------------
|1974–75 |…|…|
--------------
|1975–76 |…|…|
--------------
|1976–77‡|…|…|
--------------
|1977–78‡|…|…|
--------------
|1978–79‡|…|…|
--------------

in real terms on specified types of farm in consecutive pairs of years between 1972–73 and 1977–78, the latest year for which figures are available.

and ( b) on lowland farms, in both real and actual terms.

Mr. Giles Shaw
[pursuant to his reply, 13 November 1979, c. 559…: It is not possible to allocate fixed costs to derive net profits from suckler cows. Gross margins which do not take account of fixed costs are given in the table.

Data relating to 1979–80 are not available, but higher feed costs and reduced calf prices are expected to result in substantial reductions in the gross margin per cow in actual and real terms.