IN RETROSPECT.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20551, 20 May 1932, Page 18

IN RETROSPECT.

" ■ ♦■ — '-— ■ THE FARMING YEAR. UNION PRESIDENT REVIEWS 1931-32. ADVOCACY OF FREE EXCHANGE. The farming year 1931-32 was reviewed at length by Mr Colin Mcintosh, president of the North Canterbury district branch of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, at tho annual conference of that body held yesterday.. His annual report made reference to and comment upon farming difficulties caused by the financial crisis, tho crops of the year, mutton aud larnb export, wheat breeding research, and the fixing of the price for wheat, the Exchange Pool question, unemployment, including the proposals for placing men on the land, the Ottawa Conference, and the importance of probable discussion there of national debt repayment adjustment am] Dominion preference for produce. "The current year has not been without its trials and tribulations for the farming community," states the report of the president. "It 13 unnecessary to refer at length to the anxieties and complexities that have been the farmer's lot during the past year, but we can .appreciate the fortitude and sacrifice that has been shown in the general resolve to battle against the.adverse conditions consequent upon tlie present economic depression. "The climatic conditions during the early part- of last year were ideal for getting tho wheat in, aud were followed by a good rough winter, which is usually the forerunner of a good spring and summer, but unfortunately spring came in dry, and the weather continued dry right up till the middle of February, during which time Canterbury experienced the worst drought for 35 years. The wheat crop stood up to the dry conditions remarkably well,- and weio harvested in the earlier districts in excellent condition before tho weather broke, but the later areas were caught with a week's easterly rain, and were ruined. Tho yield this year will be about 25 to 20 bushels only, as against 32 to 33 bushels in recent years. Sliding Scale of Duties. "During the year the Government saw fit to reduce the sliding scale of duties on wheat to a price which the l'rimo Minister said would return to the farmer 4s Od on truclvs. "The Wheat Pool ,Board and the millers made strong representation to the Government that their calculations were wrong, and that at the price set for flour the miller could not possibly o-lvcniorc than 4s 4ld for Tuscan and earrv on, but it was of no avail, th-s Government would not alter its decision. . ~ "It also looked certain in the earner part of the season with the increased sowing and tho splendid appearance of tho crop that there would bo a considerable surplus, and the Wheat Pool Hoard not being in a position to carry nnother-surplus, decided to put the ma•tor before all wheat-growers, with the result that a Wheat Marketing Board has been set up, consisting of four wheat-growers and four millers, m handle any surplus so that it may no. break the-market.

The. Fattening Season. "The fattening season has been u good one although much too dry for rape and turnip crops. Feed was scarce in the early part of the season and very heavy killings took place before Christmas. The works opened earlier than usual, and owing to drought conditions prevailing, and the fear of prices falling farmers were induced to send in anything -thafwould kill, with the result that the average weights were lower than previous years. ~,, ,\ j„f„ "The amount of stock killed to rt.Ue shows a considerable increase in both sheep and lambs over last years killings'for the same period. There is still a fair amount of stock about, and the extent to which these increases will be maintained will depend largely on climatic conditions, and the amount of feed available. Heavy Increase in Killings. "The Meat Board figures show that up to April 30th tho killings of sheep and |lambs are 1,659,085 in excess of last year at the and it is satisfactory to note that moat of tho excess killings have been shipped. Owing to the low schedule price ruling last year many farmers-stored their lambs in tho works and shipped on their own account late in the year, and came out very well. A number are doing the same this year, and it would appear that they are on the right lines. lam of the opinion that the slump of the p,ast three weeks is only temporary. Prices have been steady throughout the season, at a low level, but with a rising tendency.

"Exchange Pool a Vital Question." "By far the most vital question as directly affecting thp farmer during the year is tho Exchange Pool. Time will not permit me to deal with this very important question at any length, but I will mention a few salient points as they appear to me. "The primary objects were— N "(l) To secure for themselves the amount of exchange necessary to pay their overseas commitments. "(2) To prevent tho exchange rising by reason of competition to a high figure which mean that the Government would have to pay more to liquidate its oversea debts. ''Admittedly this was a very shrewd move on the part of the jGovernment, but what is the result from the primary producer's point of view? Farm products are the basis of our export and import trade. The farmers' purchasing power is the basis of all internal trade. Every town industry is either serving, the farmer or serving those who serve the.farmer. The prosperity of the towns depends on the farms. It is the present economic sickness of the farms that is causing the economic ills of the towns.

, Farm and Town Ills, Linked. "Cure the ills of the farms and the ills of the towns will disappear. Australia let' its exchange go free and it went up to 130 per cent, and is now 125 per cent., and is meeting its overseas debt payments on this basis, and the general Australian opinion is that the result is a benefit to Australia, and its export producers are thereby enabled to pay their way. "Great Britain has let its exchange go to 130 per cent.-and is meeting its Ame/ican debt payments on this basis. The general British opinion is that the change has benefited Britain and it ! has enabled her export industries to pay I their way.

Advocacy of Free Exchange. "Our exchange as it stands to-day at 110 per cent, is equal to Jd per pound on our wool and lamb and IJd on our butter, so one can readily see the direct advantage it would be to the farmer and to the country generally if it was allowed to go to 125 or 130 per cent. A rise in exchange of, say, 20 percent, would mean a further increase in the gross receipts of farmers of £6,000,000 to £7,000,000 on the basis of present exports. ' "The immediate result therefore would be an increase in the capacity of the farmer to buy goods, employ labour, and to meet interest payments so that purchasing power begins to circulato with beneficial results to unemployment, business profits, and business confidence. The economic, storm is world-wide and of greater intensity than ever known before. It has struck New Zealand with its full force and our Dominion is now economically very sick. Need for Long View. "Under these circumstances it is no uso the Government or any sectional interests taking the short view of what will be good for them ,in the immediate future. They must, take the long view of what must be done to restore the whole economic structure of the country to normal functioning and health, for unless this is done every man, woman, and child in the Dominion will suffer. No immediate gain can make up for the ultimate loss. -No wonder the Exchange Committee, which conFists of members.of tho Farmers' Union, Meat Board, Dairy Board, Sheepowners' Federation, and other producer organisations, has been trying to move Heaven and earth to get the Government to lift the restrictions. "The committee has even taken advice from three of the most eminent solicitors in Wellington, and they all say the action of the Government is illegal. "The farmer is said to be the backbone of the country, but I think he can be more aptly termed the heart of the countrv, and that heart, owing to all the economic ills piled upon it, has almost ceased to beat, and if something is'not immediately done to help cure those ills it will be 'Good-night, Nurse!' The heart will cease to function and the country will be bankrupt. Unemployment Problem. "The mo3t serious problem the countrv is facing today is the unemployment question, and it is growing steadily worse. The Unemployment- Board seem to be at their wits' end to know how to deal with it, as is also the Gov orument to find the necessary money for relief work. "The placing of. additional men infarms to do necessary work is only a palliative, and will not solve the problem. Much valuable aud reproductive work has been, and is being, done on farms, but those jobs will some day come to an end owing to excess of man power. Meantime there are perhaps thousands of men (factory hands, tradesmen, and others) who are unsuitable for country work, and no effort , seems to be made to get these men reinstated at their jobs. ' "I am of the opinion that wo should produce as much as possiblo of our own requirements m our own country, and by doing so employ our own workmen at their own trades, and purchase only overseas frdm those countries which will take our surplus produce in return. I think this is the surest way of stabilising the condition of this Dominion. It is a bad policy to send away our hard cash to those countries which will not take our produce as payment for our purchases. "Labour Should Admit Tacts." , "The'solution of our difficulties would be much easier if our Labour leaders would admit the facts; that after many years of living above its means the country must put its house in order that employers can only pay for work en results, and not for hours worked, irrespective of- output, and that under present conditions the weekly wage cannot be expected to provide for tho extravagant spending on unesscntials so prevalent in recent years, particularly among our young people. "Many wage-earners who complain that thp 10 per cent, cut necessitates Home readjustment of the family budget do not rcaliso that the majority of employers have had their profits reduced- by over 50 per cent., while it is not a question of the farmer or his family receiving either wages or profits, but a question of endeavouring to keep a home in the hopo that prospects may j improve. I Tho Secondary Industries. * "Many of our secondary industries are only working part time and with reduced staffs. These industries should bo reinstated and standardised, if possible the employer to undertake to deliver the goods at not more than a certain price, the employer to be subsidised from the Unemployment Board if necessary; and the Government to give a guarantee of a local market, not by a tariff, which has a tendency to raise prices, but by excluding imports provided the local article is satisfactory. ■ "In this way we could make the best use of our man power, keep the money in circulation, and pay higher wages. After all, it is tho spending power of wages we are inclined to look at, and not tho purchasing power.

Ottawa Conference. "The Imperial Conference to be hold at Ottawa next month will be the scene of most important decisions affecting the British Empire. Among the problems to be solved is the difficulty of repaying obligations contracted on a twenty shiling pound basis with a pound worth only ten shillings, and the consequent necessity of the adjustment of. interest obligation?, or in other words, how are we to repay our borrowings and interest in the Old Country with produce selling at only half the price it was when the debt was contracted? "This is tantamount to paying double interest and paying back twice the amount we borrowed. The prosperity of the Dominion depends on the solution of this problem.

Inter-Empire Markets. "Another very important matter is the amount of preference to be given to English and the Dominion producers to make inter-Empire markets secure on a payable basis. "In a recent conference of the Kural Interests Committee, Sir Francis Boys made an illuminating contribution to New Zealand ideas on the subject from the point of view of the consumption power of the British public. He pointed out that if even a 10 per cent, duty was charged on foreign meat and butter, that duty would be paid- by the foreign farmer and their produce would stlil be in competition with the Empire products. , • "Sir Francis's scheme is roughly this. That a quota system be instituted whereby the British Board of Trade should have power to restrict imports into the TJnitted Kingdom from foreign coun-, tries so that the tonnage imported from Bueh sources is adjusted to provide for the seasonal requirements of the British markets. That is to say, the English farmer would have iirst preferenco and be assured of a local market for the whole of his produce, next would come Empire produce, and if the-demand is not supplied foreign imports would be allowed in up to the amount required to supplV the, market. _ "This fact must be borne m mind that Great Britain is the dumping ground for all the surplus meat and butter of all parts of the world, and that this market should be preserved for her own Dominions w v ery important.

Value of Agricultural Besearch. I "Without in any. way overlooking the ] necessity for a much reduced expenditure by the Government I hope there will be no reduction in the carrying on of agricultural research work which is. likely to result in cheaper production, increased yields, or better quality of our primary industries. "We have complaints from time to time from tho millers and bakers that our Tuscan wheat is not strong enough to make a good loaf, but from tho farmer's point of view the strong wheats such as Garnett and Jumbuck are low yielders. Hero is where the Wheat Bosearch Institute and Lincoln College are doing a valuable work in trying to combine the heavy yield of Tuscan with the high quality of the stronger wheat, and when this is accomplished there will be no excuse for importations from Australia or Canada, but in the .meantime I would advise farmers to stick to the good old Tuscan and Hunters.

Pasture Grass Improvement. "There is also room for a great improvement in our pasture grasses. I believe it is just as essential to cuTI out our poorer grasses as it is to cull out our poorer cows. Of the grasses' sown to-day, 30 to 40 per cent, disappear after, the first year, indicating the necessity of growing only the per-; manent strains. Increasing areas of certified Hawke's Bay permanent strain ryegrass are being sown in Canterbury, but unfortunately most of the product from these areas is being shipped to Australia and England, which goes to show that other countries realise better than we do the value of a permanent pasture. "They say it is an ill wind that blows no good, but the drought this summer has pushed home to' us very forcibly the lesson which Lincoln College has been trying to teach us in the matter of rotational grazing. . "During the drought'period farmers were compelled to shift their sheep from bare paddpek to ( bare padlock every day or two to keep them from breaking through the .fences, and it was just surprising how satisfied they were with the continual- changing, and how well they kept inj<.condition on the starvation rations. '' During the year I have had the pleasure of visiting a number of the brancUes, and am pleased to see the keen interest which is still being maintained in the affairs of the union, despite the hard times we are all going through. It goes to show that farmers generally appreciate the value of the work the organisation is doing for them.

Value of Paxmers' "Union. \ "At a time like the present, when every item of unnecessary expenditure has to be cut out, there may be a tendency on the part of farmers to drop out of the union. While frankly admitting that the economic conditions are such that it is absolutely necessary to curtail expenditure, one is apt to go to the other extreme and endanger the existence of the organisation by failing to give it one's wholehearted support.. In point of fact, there never was a time when a strong membership was more necessary than at present. It is in times of depression, more so than in times of prosperity, that the organisation can be of the utmost service. "This has been amply demonstrated in recent months by the results achieved from our,organisation's efforts to obtain relief for bur over-burdened farmers • in the abolition of the Super Land Tax, 125 per cent, rebate on road ratcSj reduced price of fertilisers; lifting of restrictions on industry in regard to the Arbitration Court, easing of the interest burden through the Mortgagors i Belief Aet, and the National Exjaendl-

ture Adjustment Bill, and in other ways keeping a watchful eye on the fanners' needs. , "There are many of ue inclined to waxt until some proposal emanates from the Government or other sectional interest which is a meDace to the farming community and then kick over the traces and complain at the wav we are being treated. Far bettor to stand solidly behind our organisation and help to frame a policy for the Government, and so express an -authoritative opinion on the needs erf the farmer and of the country generally," *■ «. M t M J . cln t°. sh waß "corded a vote of \nl*tl Th " * bl ° wiew ° f farming year.