asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will indicate the percentage of arable land which would be capable of meeting our full wheat requirements if the average yield of wheat amounted to ten barrels per acre.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Wheat Acreage.
At the present rate of bread consumption the full wheat requirements of the country are approximately 470,000 tons of dried wheat. At no time has the intake of the millers reached ten barrels per acre of green wheat. In recent years the mill intake of wheat has varied from two and a half barrels to six and a half barrels per acre. When one takes into account the seed requirements and the variation in yields between different qualities of land and the variation in the mill intake from year to year it will be seen that any estimate of an acreage to provide full requirements would have to vary between rather wide limits.