"FARMING OUTLOOK."

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 252, 23 October 1926, Page 20

"FARMING OUTLOOK."

WHAT OF OUR EXPORTS?

TAKE STOCK OF SITUATION.

(By A. E. ROBINSON.)

Whilst we may conclude that districts adaptable to topdressing aud. where transport costs are not prohibitive will continue to supply their quota towards the increasing needs of the population, that is by no means the whole of the problem. Can the more favoured few of the farmers bear the whole burden?

The number of persons employed on the farms of New Zealand has been dropping annually since 1922-23. This number was 146,380 in 1922-23; 143,699 in 1923-24; and 142,742 in 1924-25. The farm workers have had to provide the growing New Zealand population and New Zealand factories with farm produce, beside which they have provided almost all the exports. By simply dividing the number on the farms each year into the New Zealand population (excluding Maoris), it will be found that each farmer in New Zealand provided wheat, butter, cheese meat, wool, etc, for 8.7 persons in 1923, for 9 persons in 1924 and for 9.28 persons in 1925. That is to say, each year nearly onethird of one person extra is dumped on each New Zealand farmer's shoulders. If we were protected by law, as are most others, in the exchange value of his products, the farmer would benefit by this, but at present he is quite out in the cold. Aβ we should soon be in "queer street" without our exports, it is desir-i able to see how they are actually getting on, apart from price fluctuations. It is not easy to obtain information concerning farming matters and farmers. The words do not even occur in the indexes of the Monthly Abstracts of Statistics. Consequently, it is not possible to give the exact values of all farming products for each year at a common value, but the values of almost all the items of exported farm produce have been arrived at by deducting gold, timber, flax, kauri gum and "other New Zealand produce" (which, latter, includes certain agricultural produce, but is not sufficient, nor does it vary sufficiently, to affect the conclusions), from tables in the Year Books giving the exports at 1914 values.

It is found that these exports of main [farm products on the 1913-14 basis of I prices were worth £29,714,604 in the yea r lending June, 1923, £27,433,800 in the I year, 1924, and £28,953,586 in 1925. In 1923 each person farming contributed £203 in exports, next year this dropped to £191, and in 1925 the individual average rose again to £203. This was very likely due to an influx of over 3000 persons, who had left other forms of farming for dairying in the previous year. Without taking any note of the increased cost of this production, it should be remarked that the above only indicates that the men on the land are holding their own individually, but are not jable to pick up the national loss due to [their diminishing number. Surely noI body having the welfare of the country at heart will be satisfied with this! In I spite of all the gains through top-dress- | ing, culling and crop-growing, in spite of the thousands of extra hands in the dairying industry, in spite of all the improved methods being rapidly introduced, the New Zealand farmer, on whom everything and everybody in the Dominion depends, is producing for export not more but less.

It may be the cause for personal gratification on his part that he can carry the increasing burden of the Dominion's population and yet hold his own individually on the export market, but it should not be a cause for congratulation to the nation, and it ie highly advisable that the. nation should take stock of the situation. If that stocktaking leads to a determination that the more useful

member of the community shall no longer be victimised in the internal exchange value of his services for doubtful benefit to his less nationally-useful brethren, more and further reaching benefit will accrue to the farmer and through him to the whole community than can be hoped for from the most promising innovations within the industry.