STOOL AND MEAT

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24386, 12 October 1944, Page 4

STOOL AND MEAT

* REPRESENTATION OF PRODUCERS

POST-WAR PROBLEMS

Grave concern at the huge stocks of wool which had . been accumulated during the last five, years had been expressed at i recent meeting -of the electoral cdinmitteS of the Meat Board in Wellington, said Mr J. L. Macfarlane at a meeting of the general committee' 'of the : Canterbury Agricultural' and Pastoral -Association yesterda a deplbrable state of affairs that, in.New Zealand there was no body truly representative of Wool said cMr Macfarlane. ’ VThe .producers bad' no whatsoever at the present time. Because of the difficult problems of future marketing of wool, the electoral committee had considered that a wool board, on similar lines to the Meat Board, should be formed, so that the producers could keep the control of wool in their own hands. Delegates had met the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser), continued Mr Macfarlane, and certain proposals had been put before him. He had given them a very sympathetic hearing and had promised to give them-’nis consideration.Advice had now been received that the delegates would be called together again on October 25 to hear the -Prime Minister’s reply to those proposals. The need for publicising wool had been emphasised, because of competition froffi manufacturers of ■ synthetic fibres,.'-some" of whom' spent up to £1,000,000 annually on .publicity. Wool research Was being done in England; and New -Zealand, South- Africa, and Australia assisted .financially in this, in proportion to their, output of wool. But at the'present time publicity of wool was negligible; Wool would have to be, far more publicised; The electoral committee had therefore'recommended that a new wool board should make sf levy on-each bale, fadge, or bag of wool produced in the country —it would not amount to much on each bale—to finance publicity. Then again, said Mr Macfarlane, the consumption of wool, S(S against synthetic fibres, should be fostered. At present duties were charged by , the Government amounting to about 22J per cent, ott wool fabrics and 3 per cent, on synthetic fibres. Delegates at the meeting in Wellington had con-, sidered that-this ratio should be reversed in favour of wool. Meat Position Satisfactory Discussing the meat position, Mr Macfarlane said this was satisfactory. Stores had been- cleared, and the Meat Board was functioning well. In the interests of producing heavyweight lambs it was claimed' that there should be an equal , price for all prime lambs up to' 421b weight and an equal price for all second-grade lambs up to the same weight. So far as the meat Stores went the position was satisfactory, said\Mr G. H. Grigg, who was recently appointed chairman of the- .Meat .Producers’ Board. The stores ;wsuld ‘be clear by tSe. end of the' present month. An endeavour should be made to, secure 'schedules of. meat prices which;would encourage- the production of heavier animals. Nev) Zealand had a contract with Great Britain for all 1 the meat that could be produced during the next four years. There were no fears of restrictions to deter producers.-am the more meat that could be produced for export the better. Prices were known up to 1046; those for 1947 and 1948 would be reviewed with regard to costs. Producers should do their utmost to achieve the maximum output. It was about time the meat Industry had an increase in for its products, said Mr Grigg. In recent negotiations for the new meat schedules he. thought the producers. had given- concrete evidence of costs in actual figures. Before' now this had not been done. - '

Th<j“ Wool Council as at present constitutedi Mr Grigg said, had' powers only over propaganda and reseax-ch. The producers should have a hand in any negotiations - with Great Britain about the post-war marketing of wool. Mr E. S. Taylor suggested that all ewe prices were much too low. Originally they had been introduced as slump prices to allow people to carry on. . /Mr Grigg said' he agreed that all ewe and wether prices—in fact all sheep prices—were ,too low. The Meat Pool had been established, and it had grown more than anyone had expected. If it had not been for the agreement setting it up, producers would have had increases before stabilisation was introduced. He said that under stabilisation an increase in, the cost of living index would mean an all-round wage increase; and the price of meat retailed was a big factor in .the index. However, if the cost of living was, to be held down it should not be at the expense of production; as it was to-day.

PRICE SCHEDULES FOR MEAT

• ANNOUNCEMENT SHORTLY “I shall probably have a difficult job for a lew months; there may be-criti-cisms of the board, but I hope you will nnd out the true facts, and, where 'I am right, back trie up,” said Mr G. H.; Grigg, who ;was recently -appointed chairman of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board, at a meeting of the general committee of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association yesterday, when congratulations were extended to him on his appointment. Mr Grigg said he hoped to follow a policy whereby the farmers were kept informed of the activities of the board. At present, negotiations were in progress with the Government about new meat schedules. Representations about the increased costs of production borne by farmers had been made, and an increase in meat prices had been asked for.

The importance of an early announcement of the new prices had also been impressed on the Government, added Mr Grigg. It was hoped to make the announcement shortly, although nothing definite could be said now. Extending the association’s congratulations to Mr Grigg, the president (Mr James Reid) said it was felt that the right place was being filled by the right man.