Written question asked by Paul Marsden (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 23 January 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 2 February 2004. It was answered by Alun Michael (Labour) on Monday, 2 February 2004 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average income was for a hill farmer in Shrewsbury and Atcham in the last year. - Including figures.

Answer: Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average income was for a hill farmer in Shrewsbury and Atcham in the last year. [151317] Alun Michael: Estimates of farm business income are obtainable from the Farm Business Survey, but results are not available at constituency level because the size of the sample is too small. Net farm income for full-time farms either wholly or mainly in the less favoured areas in the West Midlands Government Office Region in 2002-03, excluding farms involved in the compulsory FMD cull, was £12,000 per farm. This compares with a net farm income of £13,200 for the West Midlands Government Office Region as a whole and £16,600 for England. Net farm income is the return to the principle farmer and spouse for their manual and managerial labour and to the tenant-type capital of the business.

Secondary information