FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18625, 25 February 1926, Page 10

FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

WHEAT. VIEWS OF FARMERS. OPINIONS DIFFER. THE MINISTER CONGRATULATED "What we expected, but not what we hoped," seemed to be the general opinion of the North Canterbury executive of the Farmers' Union yesterday, of the Minister for Agriculture's pronouncement on wheat and flour duties. The Union had a long discussion yesterday, and opinions were ventured on the probable price of wheat and incidental, subjects. Reports were received from several districts on this year's yield, and one member stated that this was the poorest harvest he could remember in a life-time. The chairman (Mr J. D. Hall) introduced "the wheat question," and outlined the decision of the Ashburton Conference. He said that the Union executive's decision had not been supported by the branches, but under the rules of the Union the executive could not walk out of office. They would carry on until the Provincial Council met in May. It seemed that a free market had been decided on, and it would now he interesting to see what the branches proposed the executive should do. The speaker had been sent to the Wellington Conference on an absolute fool's errand, and all he could tell the Minister and the poultrymen was that he was absolutely hound by the resolutions of the Ashburton Conference. The question of prices had cropped up, and the millers had declared they would not pay more than 6s Bd, 6s 10d, ai|d 7s f.o.b. When it was suggested that they should pay 7s, three of the millers had said they would rather close their mills. "I. suppose the Minister did not believe them," said Mr Hall. The poultrymen's representative had stated that they were paying 9s for wheat in Palmcrstbn North, and when it was suggested that they should buy Canterbury | wheat, he\had said that it would cost 2s to send it from Canterbury to Palm- ■ eraton North. The objectionable thingwas that outside wheat should be bought instead of Canterbury grain, ° .. Lower Price; Less Grown.

"Wo ought to have a discussion Jiere," continued the chairman. "Seme members are looking for information. What happens this year is going to govern napt year. The result of the prices will be twofold. Bewarrd the grower, and you furnish an attraction lor the future. Lower the • price, there is a Joss of attraction, and* ihera will be a lesser area of wheat sown next year." The exemption from duty of poultryinen's .wheat meant a difference of about Od a bushel. The poultry-growers in tfic north would be kept going at the .farmers' .expense. fAAVi, the fact? ia -the Minister's proitouiicemeitare as 1 good as we expected, "htit not as good aa we hoped," said "Tho special arrangement with the poultrymen will undouttfedly have its effect on prices here.

Qn tije, ; other hand, as far back as last ( the Government agreed to see 4 the: 1 ; poulfcrymen supplied at prices equivalent to; those arranged by • the ' , millers and the groovers. The abandon- i ' ment of the arrangement left the poul- j try people in the air, and the Govern- J merit's action is largely, justified." Provided the statement could be accept- j ed that the arrangement was for this year only, no very strong criticism, could be levelled at the Minister's statement, although'there was an infringement of the ifree market. To that extent farmers, were bound to express their disapproval. However, the Government had - had a moral obligation to the poultry people. The announcement that the duty on flour would not be increased was ambiguous in a way, and he did not think members realised what the effect of the decision would be. It: appeared to him that growers could not get the benefit of the Is 3d duty unless ■ lio.ur was protected to a greater extent than at present. Tho value of the projection of wheat as far &i millers were concerned was 9d & bushel, roughly. If the Government maintained the present duties on flour, it would make trouble for'everyone. The duty of is 3d was really a fictitious one. He also wished to say that the low price of wheat would reduce the acreage grown. Seasonable Profit. I,t was exceedingly hard for the organisation to say anything which would bo of use; to the growers. The position hinged on the question of whether the profit ttA the millers was a reasonable one. There was a strong feeling in some farmers' minds that although some ■ of. the mills might not make a reasonable profit, tho more up-to-date and effi- .'■ cieiVt mills m/glit easily cut the profits . they were making. Considerable profife.tothe miller acerued from an insignificant reduction in the price to the grower. °To indicate the value of wheat, I may say that sales are being made at • 6» 9d, or 6a 10d on trucks," said Mr Mulholland. ''lsolated sales are certainly being made, although officially the millers are not buying. These prices. are being paid\ even after ths Minister's pronouncement."

' "Fairly Well Satisfied."

"The question has been finalised as far as the. Government ia concerned," said Mr .6. W., Leadloy, ''and taking things big and large, farmers should be.fairly well satisfied. We hoped to see the duty on imports fixed for the full term of the parliamentary life, but we havo them for 1928 and 1927. II . hope the fanners will respond to the j inducement offered and grow wheat \ more extensively than they have been i doing for the- last few years. I am I sorry to see the millers have not ac- '< eepted the terms as kindly as we wished. They seem to think that they are ia a disadvantageous position and there is some talk of closing the mills, but I don't think there is much fear of that. Altogether, tho Government is to be congratulated on ita decision, although it has been a long time about it. "Bsttwr Yields." "Farmers in my district are taking advantage of selling offers," continued Mr Leadloy. "3£is year the yields have been better than \vas anticipated and they are of very excellent quality on the whole. I regret the millers have not accepted the terms, and I i know they are holding back from pur- ; chasing until wheat is more plentiful." i Answering the chairman, Mr Leadley -Mi^tbai,wheat was fetching 7b on : trucks at' country stations. ' Tuscan .;. Wheat wa» fetching a little more, for millers were not only paying 7s on ' trucks but were contributing to the eest ;of cartage. "All the wheat is /going south/' said, the speaker. "Why

the north and mid-Canterbury millers will not pay the prices. I can't see. Mine is an early district, and the threshing is nearly finished." The chairman: Is anything like half of the wheat sold? Mr Leadley: Fully half. On my side between, the sea and the railway very little is unsold. The machines have gone to the upper districts. I think that the mid-Canterbury millers will be left with mileage to pay. Bran and PollardMr Mulholland, speaking again on the Minister's pronouncement, said that the statutory duty on bran and pollard was £2 10s a ton, but it had been varied by Order-in-Council to £1 per toil. Everyone thought that was a temporary variation, but now the Government had shown its intention of reducing the duty to £1 permanently. The' Minister should have plainly stated that he was making a reduction. Mr E. A. Foster, replying to the chairman, said that a good deal of wheat from his district had been sold at 7s on trucks before the pronouncement. Strict Watch Necessary. Mr R. T. McMillan stated that the bulk of farmers felt satisfied at what had been done, although they thought that an increase in the duty on Hour would have been better. He could not see why the poultrymen should have been picked out and allowed to get their wheat duty free. Mr Mulholland: They've got a lot of votes! Mr McMillan: Well, it is not playing the game to the other consumers. If a strict watch is kept, perhaps no harm will bo done. The difficulty is that a lot of wheat may be imported for poultry people and not used by them. That would have a depressing effeet on the wheat industry. If they had carried out the Ashburton resolution, they would have met tlie requirements of the farmers in a much greater degree. However, if the main duties are in force for a considerable time, they may induce farmers to grow wheat. Sheep Instead. Speaking of the Oxford district, Mr E. G. Wells said that the yields had been poor. Tho average return was about 24 bushels to the acre. The threshing niiflß had pulled out a ■ week or ten days ago. Farmers had been disappointed that the duty on flour had not increased to that required by the Ashburton conference. They were not getting the protection they should have, and he doubted if the wheatgrowers of the district would sow the quantity they used to. They would go in for ewes, and let wheat go. The railway charges on wheat were up again and farmers had no control over the labour market.

The chairman: The test is going to be the ewe market. The best ewes may bring 30s. Mr ,7. D. Henderson stated that about one-third of the wheat in Halkett had been threshed, and the yields had not. been as good as expected. Not one bushel had been sold yet, but wheat was being held in store. "There has .not been more than p day's work: for threshing machines on most farms in West Eyretoh," said Mr C. Mcintosh. "The crops have been disappointing, .and the yields about five bushels below the average. Yesterday some wheat was sold in Rangiora for 7s f.o.b. to fill an Auckland order. I ivas given to understand that there would be nothing more-doing until after the millers' conference on Friday. , Millers were nob offering a price." Mr Mulholland: That's called a free market! He said that fully 75 per cent, or 85 per cent, of the wheat threshed at the end of last week had been sold. That-was from 30 per cent, to 50 per cent, of the acreage of the district. Isolated sales had been made since the Minister's statement. The . price was about. 7s f.o.b.

"The Smallest Harvest." Mr G. Leech said that only about 50 acres at Scargill had been threshed. In Rotherham most of the wheat had been sold at 7s on trucks. Some of the yields had been as low as six bushels per acre. His friehdß had told him yesterday that the millers were standing off, but personally ho had received an offer of 7s f.0.b., and it was open till last night. Crops at Hawarden had been pretty poor, and the springsown stuff had been very disappointing. "It is the smallest harvest I can remember," lie contiuued, "and I have been, 1 in North Canterbury,all my life. In one or two isolated cases where rape has been sowed previously, on good land, a yield of 40 bushels per acre has been gained.. Fanners are pretty sick of *the whole business." The chairman: You never get two people to agree on this question. If there is a prospect of wool and fat lamb growing increasing, then wheat will fall back. "I think we must be in a favourable position this year," said Mr Leadley. "There is going to be a big rush on wheat in my district. Some people are already ploughing, and one man says that he will sow wheat in April. The bulk of the farmers are going in for wheat, I am convinced of it." The chairman: You weren't talking like this last Wednesday.

Optimism. "I congratulate the Minister; it. is more than I expected from a North Island man," declared Mr J. R. Cullen, "and he has gone a long way up in my consideration. If Australian wheat duty free is going to cost 7s 9d or 7s lOd a bushel to land here, we will be quite safe in asKing 6s lOd at country stations." Mr Cullen mentioned that a baker in his district had explained the sourness of his bread by saying that he had used Australian flour. It was suggested that the meeting might fix a price which growers might, expect for their wheat. . Mr Wells thought that the Onion should not fix the price till- after tho millers' conference, and his suggestion was accepted, v ■, . Mr Mulholland said that although he had no authority to state a price, he would say that he thought tho price would not fall to less than 6s 9d a bushel on trucks. It was decided that the Agricultural Committee should meet on Wednesday, and issue a statement about the wheat position. Mr McMillan: I feel confident that if we hold the wheat wo will get 7s a bushel, or we might get it now.

The chairman: You need not be frightened. The millers will not offer you 6s lOd. Tt will have to be dragged out of them. Labour Criticism. The meeting's attention was drawn to a labour statement, which alleged that tho wheat-growers had committed a breach of agreement by not growing the number of acres of wheat they had promised. The chairman said that the farmers were unfortunately not able to control the weather. They bad done their best Mr Mulholland said that the Department realised that tho farmers had niade a genuine effort to grow a largely increased, acreage, and that the weather bad. defeated them. The speaker had represented the growers, and wished to say that they had never made an agreement to grow the acreage suggested by the Laoon ertatemeni. "T don't I know where they got their„information from," he continued. "I"think they must have just pnessed it. W* have never undertaken to

grow a specified acreage; wo undertook to grow as nsor- as the requirements of the Dominion fts possible. I said that about 220,000 acres was th© limit we could possibly reach, and the fact that we grow over 160,000 acrea in spit© of tho weather, is GufScient answer to the charge of a broken agreement."