DISAPPOINTED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 224, 22 September 1938, Page 23

DISAPPOINTED.

DAIRY INDUSTRY.

THE GUARANTEED PRICE.

ALTERATION TO STANDARDS

(By Telegraph—Press Association.)

WELLINGTON, Wednesday

A conference of representatives of the principal bodies associated with the <£•£«»* industry was held to-day in Wellington. Those present were members of the Xe W Zealand Dairy Board, representatives of the National Dairy federation, the South Wand Dairy Association, and the New Zealand Farmer*' Union. The meeting was eon>ened by the Dairy Board to consider the report of the Guaranteed Prices AdvHorj Committee and the decisions reached by the Government in connection with that report. After thoroughly traversing the report and the salient points of the evidence, the conference recorded its deep appreciation of the very thorough manner in wnieli the investigations had been car 'led out, and endorsed the standards arrived at unanimously by the committee. The conference regarded these standards as the absolute minimum .vhich should determine the price to be I'iiid fo dairy farmer* under present COlKlitl.llls.

| riie conference expressed its profound I disappointment with tlie Milliliter of Marketing,' the Hon. W. Nash, for the way in which he had arbitrarily altered the standards unanimously agreed on |»y the committee of expe'rts after nil investigation extending over 25 days and after a most thorough examination of evidence of a nature which had never previously been available. With all due respect to thp Minister, the conference doubted bis ability to discover in an arbitrary maimer new standards more accurate than those recorded by the advisory committee. Average Production. "The conference is forced to the conclusion that the Minister simply made up his mind as to the price he was prepared to pay to the industry and then adjusted his standards accordingly," says a statement issued. "The alteration made by him in fixing the average production per cow* at 2501b butterfat in place of *he committee*s! figure of 2401b gives an average far j beyond anything which has been j achieved in the Dominion. '

! "It would appear to the conference I that the unit of labour of 57501b butter--1 »t has oeen altered by the Minister to •'•000 merely to fit in with the price yliieh he had decided to pay, and in iew of the thorough investigation carried out by the advisory committee the conference ia of the opinion that he could not have had any facts before him to support his contentions. "The conference draws the attention of the industry and the Government to the fact that the basis of standards as altered by the Minister means that! where a farmer employs hired labour the greater proportion of the price increase will go to the employee. This is clear when the standards of the com-, mittee are noted. The standard per cow production was Z4olb butterfat and the standard unit of labour production WM 67501b butterfat. The allowance t*&mvto*l»*t*f>» in the form of interest e« land, stock and chattels waa 4 t per cent on a standard of £75 a cow, and those factors finally allowed monetary reward to the farmer-owner of £4 10/ • week, plus an allowance for house and perquisites of £1 10/, making a total of £8 a week, which included payment for bis managerial responsibilities. "The suggested labour reward for an employee is £3 2/6 a week, plus 17/6 boarding allowance, a total of £4 a week. If the employee's wage is increased, to £4, as stated, then on the basis of the Minister's figure of 60001b butterfat per unit of labour, this increase takes 1.82 d per lb butterfat, so that if the farmer gets the proposed increase this year of 1.5 d, as stated by the Minister, he still has insufficient to pay the increased labour reward. Farmer's Return Seduced. "On a fsrm producing 12,0001b butterfat and worked by a farmer-owner and one employee, the increase in wages to the employee would represent .91d per lb butterfat over the whole production, and if all the work wu done by hired labour the increase would be 1.82 d per lb butterfat for labour alone.

"Already it is obvious that with decreased production this season and with the certainty of increased manufacturing costs as compared with last year, there is ao possibility of the Minister's estimate of an increase of 1.5 d per lb of butterfat to the producer being realised. The conference is of opinion that 1.25 d would be a more correct estimate, with the result that a farmer retiring entirely oa hired labour will net .57d per lb butterfat less than he received last year. "This Ja an illustration of the effect of arbitrarily altering standards to fit in with preconceived ideas without due consideration of the effects of the relationship between farmers' costs and rewards. The Minister has frequently referred to the guaranteed price scheme as a means of securing for the dairy fanner an income commensurate with the time, energy, skill and experience expended by him. He has stated that the main purpose of the scheme was to solve the economic problems of the dairy farmer, but in the opinion of the conference this has not been achieved. "The price which the Government has decided to pay to the dairy farmer this year is obviously based not on the principles laid down in the Primary Products Marketing .Act, but on a figure which must have been arrived at mainly on consideration of market realisations, leaving the farmer to carry a steadily increasing burden of costs."