SUPPLIES OF POTATOES

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27400, 13 July 1954, Page 7

SUPPLIES OF POTATOES

Report Of Glut Seen As “Pessimism” VIEW OF WILLOWBRIDGE GROWER The- view that potato growers in South Canterbury will be left with a surplus this season is not supported by a prominent Willowbridge farmer, Mr G. B. Richardson, who has been a big grower of potatoes for many years. Mr Richardson, who is president of* the Waimate Potato Growers’ Association, characterised as “undue pessimism” the importance attached to the statement by a Wellington merchant that there was a glut in some North Island centres and that it would be impossible to dispose of the expected consignments from the South Island.

“Figures given at a recent meeting totally dispel dispondency concerning the disposal of the crop; the clearance of potatoes in Wellington and Auckland has been considerable in the last few weeks,” he said.

“New Zealand in the last year or two has been obliged to import potatoes,” the Willowbridge grower said. “July, August and September are heavy consuming months—the North Island crop, does not come in until late in October, and there is no great quantity available until Novem-r ber. Basing my statement on years of experience in the industry, I am confident our crop will go.” The present position in Wellington was probably due to the exceptionally large quantity of potatoes, including those of undergrade quality handled by black marketeers, which had gone on to the market, Mr Richardson said. From the port of Tirnaru, a total of 140,000 sacks had be<i shipped north so far this season—a greater total than for very maiiy years. But there was still a small flow of orders going forward. “I have just received an order for 20 tons for the North Island” and he felt that another month would see a big alteration in the position. Black Market Sales ■Black marketing existed in parts of the North Island. “Anything sold below the price fixed will find a market,” he said. Undergrade potatoes (below F.A.Q. standard) were arbitrarily reduced in price by £3 a ton, but could be sold for any figure below that. The black marketeer, generally the middleman, decided to get rid of his stocks, in some instances offering F.A.Q. potatoes as undergrade to quit them; with the result that men who were trading honestly now had to hold their supplies until the black market disappeared. “Last year these black marketeers made the consumer pay £4 to £5 a ton above the degal price—sometimes a good deal more,” he said. “Today in order to trade they have cut the price.” Genuinely undergrade potatoes had been sent in large quantities to the North Island earlier in the season. Rejected at the ports as not F.A.Q. they had gone forward on consignment. “This did not matter in previous years when the crop was smaller; this year it does,”' he said. But there had been a steadying-up of late, and the whole position would show improvement in the next month or so.