Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate her Department has made of the number of farming holdings there have been in less favoured areas in (a) Cumbria and (b) Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency in each of the last 10 years.
[111609]
Answer
The number of commercial holdings in Cumbria, and the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency in the less favoured areas for 2001-10 are shown in the following table.
| Cumbria | Westmorland
and Lonsdale
constituency | |
| 2001 | 2,822 | 1,087 |
| 2002 | 2,793 | 1,061 |
| 2003 | 2,844 | 1,091 |
| 2004 | 2,804 | 1,071 |
| 2005 | 2,869 | 1,095 |
| 2006 | 3,148 | 1,076 |
| 2007 | 3,165 | 1,108 |
| 2008 | 3,182 | 1,115 |
| 2009 | 2,789 | 961 |
| 2010 | 2,461 | 724 |
| Note: Commercial holdings are those with significant levels of farming activity. These significant levels are classified as any holding with more than 5 hectares of agricultural land, 1 hectare of orchards, 0.5 hectares of vegetables or 0.1 hectares of protected crops, or more than 10 cows, 50 pigs, 20 sheep, 20 goats or 1,000 poultry. |