asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will indicate the steps he has taken to secure a market at an economic price for the quantities of oats and barley on the hands of the fanners, the proportion of the total quantities of oats and barley now unsold which will be marketed before the end of December under such arrangements as he has entered into, and the price which growers may reasonably expect to realise for such oats and barley respectively.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Market for Oats and Barley.
I would refer the Deputy to my reply to Deputy Keating's question on this subject on 2nd October last, in which I have already indicated the arrangement made to secure a market for any quantities of oats and barley that cannot be used for feeding purposes on the farms on which they have been grown. The prices which maize millers have agreed to pay for oats and barley under this arrangement are: oats £8 per ton, and barley £10 per ton delivered at mill. I am not in a position to state the proportion of the total production of oats and barley at present unsold which will be marketed by the end of December, but I am satisfied that the arrangement to which I have referred affords reasonable facilities for, the disposal of any surplus barley or oats which cannot be used for feeding on the farms on which the crops were produced.