PRODUCTION OF FOODSTUFFSI

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24535, 7 April 1945, Page 8

PRODUCTION OF FOODSTUFFSI

DIFFICULTIES OF FARMERS

PUBLIC MEETING HELD AT ISHBURTON

“It Is our duty to put the position before the;. Government apd make public, what' we are dbitift. and the diffl-, culties In the way of meeting tire new Seaton’s food programme. particularly in regard , to grain.” said Mr p. J Mowat (president of the Mid-Canter-bury executive of the Farmers’ Union) addressing a public meeting of farmers at Ashburton yesterday. The meeting was called by the Mid-Canterbury executive of the Farmers’ Union in view of the prospects ol a serious drop in farm production in. the coming season, .

The executive of the Farmers’ Union had decided to send a delegation to Wellington to put the position to either the Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. B, Roberts) or the Minister of Supply (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan), said Mr Mowat. Frpm present reports the 300,000 acres wheat target seemed impossible to*.get. ’ . ■ The delegation will comprise the ! following:—Messrs P. J. Mowat, H. C. B. Wlthell and C- C. Winn (representing the, Farmer^’'Union), and R. G. Gerard; M;P.. . A'general : outline of the statement to at Wellington "was: given to thVmeeting, The statement, said tofct WhUe-- fathers recoehMd their respbl^Sblllty- 'to' the nation .In* what “threatened to be an acute food shortage and Were anxious to do all in their power, to fulfil theft obligations they wished to’ point out the existing disabilities which were out of the farmers’ control and which, in their opinion, - would definitely interfere with the'production of foodstuffs during the 1945-46 season The delay to preparations for next season caused by the late harvest was one point mentioned. Others included the labour scarcity and inefficiency, transport difficulties, and hours of work'compared with,other sections; of .the community. . “Farmers were told in 1944 by the Minister of Agriculture to grow the grain required and labour would be available to harvest it.’ said Mr Mowat. The amount of labour available up to the time of the flood; was not; sufficient no men being available for threshing mills, headers, and stores. There'had been a severe, shortage of spare parts..... for ■ agricultural equipment, arid because of .the 40-hour week .arid delays ;in, it' was inevitable that farmers,,felt, they Were belng. treated "unfavourably in bbtoparison wUb'Qthpri. sections of the community;'.''. ■ .v 5 .. ,

k - v \VheatPrice -‘Onh 6f the imost Effective ways *, of coping with thA problem, said, Mr Mowat, was for the Government to pay a straight-out price for wheat, - and to increase substantially the price of white milling oats., regardless of acreage* , Mr J. Farrell said he was not going to grow any wheat next season. .As long as farmers liked to go on growing wheat as a patriotic gesture the Government would let them do It; and give them no consideration. It was time 'farmers stood out fori a fair deal. ’ Questioned by the chairman, Mr Talbot'said there were districts in South Canterbury where' the enthusiasm of farmers about growing wheat was falling off. It was unlikely that there wobld be an; increased Acreage, nekt, .seatom'N--‘a ' k•• Copies-of the resolution will be sent to the Ministers whom the delegation will meet ‘ ; ; ; ‘ ' ; Farmers to, South' Canterbury '.were-, finding the price of; equipment a . bbstacleV sbld Mr Dempsey * ■■■} i’LlttlO or,too, effprt.has.beentoiade by the Government . to : increase 1 its rolling fetbek,” Said Mr J.. Carr. “Thefe, is a ;snoftagd. ffbto one ohd -of the country: to the ‘Others , This,, together, with .the very baAseaSori has made' wheatgrowa nightmare.” -, . The reason for the' shortage of railway trucks was outlined in . a letter from the officer in charge of the allocation of trucks for the Ashburton "district (Mr, G.. H- .Wilson). “It would not be economical for the Government to build trucks just to cope with the short period of rush work at the peak of the harvest,” said Mr Burnett* It should be made worth the farmers’ while to stack /their grain for a period. He -advocated a graduated price scale from' February to April; ' ■"-•-V ' *- v " . “The wheat: problem is -a recurring one; it would be difficult to improve on Mr Burnett’s suggestion.” . said Mr Cullen; ‘ ■ ■- '■ I ■

: Ecsolntlon Carried ;;V The folldwlng resolution was carried: —“That the objectives outlined by the Agriculture, especially relating towheat, are unobtainable under :the 40-hdiir, week', -and with fewer ihen, on farms, because of the. recent callup, without adequate replacement and' lack of co-operation; by. other sections of the community.’’ , • •' ;V>, ' ' Moving the resolution, Mr T.V. Wllkr inson said that lie thought from the point of view of a war effort, meat was more important than wheat, People did not live. on dried: crust alone, and the situation in England and Europe 'following reduced supplies from Australia, the United States, and the Argentine was disastrous. The action of the Government in failing "to • remove earlier the penal clause on heavy-weight carcases had reduced the production by thousands of tons of meat. Encouragement of production of more meat was preferable to effecting ..comparatively trifling reductions by .further rationing. Those present at the meeting included Messrs R. G. Gerard and J. Acland, members of Parliament, Mr R. G. Bishop, representative of the North Canterbury, executive of the FarmersUnion. Mr J. D., : Dempsey, representative of the South, Canterbury executive. the Wheat and Flour Controller (Mr R, McPherson), and Messrs R. A. Burnett and J. B. Cullen, representing -transport interests. The South Canterbury Primary Production Council wasrepresented -by Messrs Ward .and L,' Talbot; •