POULTRY INDUSTRY

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LX, Issue 10832, 2 April 1932, Page 3

POULTRY INDUSTRY

More Self-Reliant Policy Advocated. PROPOSED REGISTRATION BILL. The Minister of Agriculture, having promised to have drafted a Poultry Registration and Development Bill, the following statement on the subject has been prepared by Mr J. N. McLean, organiser and secretary of the New Zealand Poultry Association, and submitted to the Hon. C. E. .Macmillan, as a suggested basis for the drafting of the Bill, and should bo of particular interest to poultry-keepers: “Registration.- Poultry - keepers who market, eggs to lie required to register, the minimum fee being 2s Gd per annum for less than 100 hens and/or ducks, with a further fee of 2s Gd for each additional lap or part thereof, the Act not to apply in any respect whatsoever to persons who keep poultry entirely for their own use, i.e., who do not sell eggs, nor to any variety of poultry other than hens and ducks.

“Exemptions.— No registration fees to be chargable to: (1) Owners of less than twelve head of poultry; (2) old age pensioners; persons registered as unemployed at Hie time when registration is due or who have been so unemployed at any time within three months of such date; (4) such other persons as may be exempted by regulation under the Act. (Particular attention is dra.wn to the last-mentioned exemption, as this would empower the Minister of Agriculture to grant exemptions in all cases which would otherwise result in undue hardship being imposed on any individual or section of the community.) “A census of poultry to be furnished by each registered poultry-keeper annua.lly. “Memo.; An annual census of hens and ducks is absolutely necessary for statistical purposes, particularly to enable a reasonably aenrate estimate of egg-production for the ensuing year to be made, thereby indicating the probable surplus in the flush season, and enabling due provision to be made for the export of same. It is proposed that registration and the census should be effected simultaneously during the month of May in each year/ this being a normal period. By this method the census returns would not entail any extra expense. The Government has on many occasions refused to he responsible for the taking of a census of poultry on the ground that the cost would run into thousands of pounds.

' "Registration, payment of fee, and poultry census could be made through post offices in one transaction at a cost of 6d per individual. By a system of numbering, and thus placing the onus on poultry-keepers, registration would be effective without employing inspectors. "Money derived from registration fees, less cost of collection and administration, to be expended in furthering the interests of the poultry industry. A provisional committee to be appointed by the Minister as soon as convenient after the Act comes into operation. Such committee to consist of four representatives of the poultry industry nominated by the New Zealand Poultry Association, and two Government nominees, and to hold office for one year unless such term should be further extended by the Minister. Thereafter a committee based on similar representation to be appointed for a term of two years, and this procedure repeated, or, alternatively, when the New Zealand Poultry Association has been efficiently organised under the operation of the Act, that the funds be passed over to this association for administration. In this connection it is proposed that every registered poultry-keeper having paid the reduired fee shall be ipso facto a member of the New Zealand Poultry Association for the currency of the period for which, such foe is paid.

Utilisation of Funds

“The primary objective is the efficient organisation of the poultry industry of the Dominion, by means of which the best Interests of all poul-try-keepers ranging from those who keep a few fowls as a ‘side line’ to the commercial poultry-farmer, will become incorpated in one solid organisation for their mutual benefit.' “Immediately the Act comes into operation ii is proposed hi take steps to organise registered poultry-keep-ers into groups comprising districts, provinces, etc. with a Dominion council and executive, the only qualification for membership being a ‘register poultry-keeper’ under the Act. Export of Eggs. “By using about 50 per cent, of the proceeds from registration fees as an equalisation fund for export, it is anticipated that the local price could be maintained at not less than Is per dozen during the flush season. This js a very modest ambition, as Is represents only the cost of foodstuff leaving nothing to meet cost of labour and other overhead expenses. “About 7,000,000 dozen eggs are marketed annually in the Dominion during the four flush months. If through the scheme now advocated the price on the local market could be maintained at even Id per dozen higher than would otherwise be the case, the additional return to poul-try-keepers would be in the vicinity of £30,000. Therefore if the registration fee must be called a tax, it is certainly a ‘betterment tax,’ returning a handsome profit on the outlay.

“The matter of dealing with the seasonal glut of eggs has been stressed because it is the bughbar of the industry, and a solution of the problem would give a new lease of life to the industry.

Grading of Eggs. “A system of grading eggs is urgently required in the interests of producers and of consumers. As, however, the Department of Agriculture went exhaustively into this question last year, and is strongly in favour of the adoption of a scheme as propounded, there is no need to deal further with the matter in this statement. The question is introduced merely to indicate that a proportion of the available funds might with advantage be expended in this direction.

“A poll to he taken before the expiration of the three years after the Act comes into operaiion, or alternately on a requisition to the Minister signed by not less than, say 15 per cent, of registered poultrykeepers, to determine by a majority whether the Act shall cease to operate or become permanent. The alternative proposal is preferred in order to avoid the expense of a postal ballot, which would be heavy, unless it were clearly shown that there existed a reasonable demand for a vote. A poll could not possibly be taken until some system of registiation has been effected. A trial of three years is the minimum period calculated to enable poultry-keepers to judee whether the Act is operating to their satisfaction or should bo repealed. “Persons who keep only a few fowls constitute an overwhelming ma-

jority of the total number of poultrykeepers, and it is obvious that, if the scheme is not framed and administered in such a manner as to secure the approval and support of this majority, the Act w'ould Inevitably be wiped out at the poll as provided for. This is a complete answer to any suggestion that might be advanced to the effect that the scheme is designed for the special benefit of poultry-keepers in a big way of business.

“The general depression has not so far affected the price of eggs to the same extent as other primary products, with the result that farmers, and farmers’ wives in particular, as well as suburban residents, are turning their attention more and more to poultry keeping as a ‘side-line’ to assist them in carrying them over this difficult period. Under existing conditions no section of poultry-keep-ers is exploited to the same extent as farmers, especially those living in the more remote country districts, and this will continue until all poultrykeepers who market eggs are protected and assisted by incorporation in one solid organisation. Special legislation has been enacted to assist practically all primary industries with the exception of the poultry industry. It is claimed that a precise precedent for the proposed Poultry Act exists in the Orchard Tax Act, passed in 1916, re-enacted in 1921, and made permanent in 1927, in every instance at the request-of fruitgrowers, and carried in Parliament practically without discussion. The exact words used in the preamble to this Act are equally applicable to the proposed Poultry Act, viz., ‘An Act to provide moneys for the development of tlie fruit-growing industry,’ with the substitution of ‘poultry industry’ for the fruitgrowing industry.’ Orchardists have insisted time after time on their Act being kept on the Statute Book, and it is contended that poultry-keepers would find the proposed Act equally beneficial. “Poultry organisations throughout the Dominion have unanimously approved of these proposals, including the annual conference of the New Zealand Poultry Association, held in March last; meetings of provincial councils with headquarters at Auckland, AVcllington, Christchurch, and Dunedin; as well as public meetings held in country district, when hundreds of poultry-keepers were present, largely farmers who kept poultry merely as a side line.

“The proposed Act is the outcome of the adoption of a. more self-reliant policy on the part of poultry keepers, a determination to help themselves if afforded the necessary machinery for doing so, instead of being dependent on Government assistance whenever serious problems have to be fa.ced. Above all, in this time of financial stringency, they offer to find their own finance. In conclusion, it is difficult to understand that there should be any serious objection to passing an Act which is vital to the welfare of one industry without being prejudicial in any way whatever to any other section of the community.”