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Written question asked by Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 24 January 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 26 January 2006. It was answered by Ben Bradshaw (Labour) on Monday, 6 February 2006 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

British Farm Produce

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much of the (a) bread-making wheat, (b) butter, (c) cheese and (d) beef consumed in the United Kingdom between 2000 and 2004 was produced by British farmers.
Answer

The amount of produce available for consumption in the United Kingdom is measured by its total new supply. The following tables show production in the United Kingdom as a proportion of total new supply.

UK production as a proportion of total new supply Percentage
Butter Cheese Beef
2000 64 63 79
2001 63 66 72
2002 64 65 71
2003 64 62 70
2004 61 61 70
2005 65 63 74
(23) Provisional

Information specifically on the amount of bread-making wheat consumed in the United Kingdom that was produced by British farmers is not available. However, available data show that the following proportion of home grown wheat was used by United Kingdom millers:

UK proportion of home grown wheat used by millers in the UK
Wheat Percentage
2000 82
2001 85
2002 83
2003 85
2004 86

The data include wheat milled to produce bread, biscuits, other food ingredients and starch, where production of flour for bread making was typically around 60 per cent. of the total flour produced over this time period. No data are yet available for 2005.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
442 c882W;442 c882W; 46187
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Consumption Production Beef Cheese Agricultural products Butter Wheat
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk