Provisions for securing efficient agricultural production and proper agricultural conditions.
(1) The following provisions of this Part of this Act shall have effect for the purpose of promoting and maintaining, by the provision of guaranteed prices and assured markets for the produce mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act, a stable and efficient agricultural industry capable of producing such part of the nation’s food and other agricultural produce as in the national interest it is desirable to produce in the United Kingdom, and of producing it at minimum prices consistently with proper remuneration and living conditions for farmers and workers in agriculture and an adequate return on capital invested in the industry.
(2) This Part of this Act shall extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland.
† Annual and special reviews of condition of agricultural industry.
(1) As at such date in each year as the Ministers may determine, they shall review the general economic condition and prospects of the agricultural industry.
(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3) In holding any review under this section the Ministers shall consult with such bodies of persons as appear to them to represent the interests of producers in the agricultural industry.
Interpretation of Part I.
(1) In this Part of this Act the expression “ the Ministers ” means the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretaries of State concerned with agriculture in Scotland and Northern Ireland, acting jointly . . .
(2) Reference in this Part of this Act to the provision of guaranteed prices for producers shall include references to the provision of payments to them (whether by reference to acreage or otherwise) in respect of produce mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act, as an alternative to the provision of guaranteed prices.
