GRAIN AND PRODUCE MARKETS

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27576, 5 February 1955, Page 10

GRAIN AND PRODUCE MARKETS

SEED SHORT AND PRICES VERY HIGH (By Our Commercial Editor.)

Extraordinary high prices continue to rule in the small seeds markets throughout North Canterbury. Markets for all classes of small seeds and grains, too, have never been more buoyant and in quotable years harvests have seldom been more meagre. Wheat and barley, of course, being sold on' a fixed price basis, do not participate in the upward price trend. The barley harvest, too, alone, perhaps, promises to be comparatvely bountiful. Last year most of the good quaHty seed was exported to exceptionally bare markets overseas. This development left New Zealand merchants with little seed in hand. The pronounced dry spell of weather in the spring and the growing months of early summer was such that many seed pastures had to be diverted to grazing. Consequently the acreage devoted to small seeds now being harvested was not as large as usual and crops generaHy are fairly short. The quality of the seed coming on to the market in North Canterbury is good in most cases. Conditions for harvesting have been ideal and the seed has aH got into the bag in splendid order and much earlier than usual. Because most merchants are under the urgent necessity of replacing stocks for retail requirements, particularly autumn sowing, competition for the grower’s product is very keen, to the end that last year's high prices are being maintained for new crop seeds. Ryegrass crops are inclined to be short, perennial in particular, but a good quantity of H.l is available. Little Italian appears to have been grown. Pererinial and H.I today command up to 42s 6d a bushel, against 20s 6d for the former and 16s 6d for the latter 12 months ago. Short White Clover Crop White clover looks like being a short crop and up to 5s 3d per lb is being offered to growers, compared with 2s 7d this time last year. . Cocksfoot, for which 3s per lb is being offered for good quality farmers’ dressed seed, is in extremely short supply, although it is not known yet what the Southland crop will be. Last year’s starting price for cocksfoot was Is to Is 6d per lb. It is too early to form an accurate estimate of the cowgrass crop, but it is not expected that large areas of seed will be harvested. Prices to farmers are bound to be high. It is too early to say how much browntop will be harvested, but the general opinion is that the harvest will not be bountiful. There cannpt possibly be much seed harvested on the lighter lands, but areas further back towards the hills are expected to produce their usual quantity of seed. Merchants say that the seed oats position is desperate. Oats of all descriptions are scarce, and prices have soared accordingly. Gartons and Algerians are fetching 10s a bushel, and over, Duns 14s 6d, and Blacks all of 13s. High prices are being paid fdr chaff, which is very hard to come by. It is reported that fully £2O a ton is being paid in the sheaf on the farm, leaving to the buyer the cost and responsibility of cutting, bagging, and carting. Blue lupins are very scarce and very dear, prices being more than double those of 12 months ago. In short, all seeds, grains, and feedstuffs appear to be in short supply, and on the present outlook are likely to command a premium for the whole of 1955. At the moment there are no substantative inquiries for New Zealand seeds from overseas. Merchants who are engaged in the export trade do not anticipate any material business at the extraordinarily high prices which obtain. Quotations to Farmers Quotations for small seeds and various lines of produce are as follows: Wheat.—lls 6d a bushel, January, February. and March (on rail, grower’s nearest siding), with the usual variety increments, plus the monthly holding increments. Ryegrass (M.D.)-—Certified perennial: mother seed, 42s 6d a bushel, p.p. 40s, uncertified 27s 6d. H.I. mother, 42s 6d; standard, *os; uncertified, 30s. Italian: mother 37s 6d. White Clover (M.D.).—Mother, 5s 3d per lb; p.p., ss; uncertified, 4s 6d. Red Clover (Cowgrass).—New crop seed not yet quoted. Cocksfoot.—3s per lb for good quality farmers’ dressed seed. Lupins.—l6s a bushel, on trucks, sacks extra. Oats.—-Gartons, 10s to 10s 6d a bushel; Algerians, 10s a bushel; Duns, 14s 6d a bushel, and Black, 13s a bushel. Chaff.—£2s a ton, on trucks (sacks extra.) Ryecorn.—2ss a bushel on trucks, sacks extra. Report from Abroad At prices so far suggested for new crop New- Zealand seeds, most United Kingdom merchants are expected to wait until the completion of the spring trade before giving serious consideration to futures purchases, according to information received by airmail by the Bank of New Zealand from its London office. Merchants there are anxious to dispose of their stocks for the spring sowing. A few transactions have taken place in perennial ryegrass p.p. seed for shipment to the United Kingdom at 250 s c.i.f., and this has been followed by business in certified mother seed at 2705. Shippers are asking prices from 275 s to 2955, but buyers are not interested. H.I. short rotation ryegrass has been quoted at 290 s c.i.f. without business being reported. White clover prices asked for the New Zealand new crop have varied from 540 s to 600 s for certified p.p. seed, but no interest has been shown. Red clover prices are out of reach of United Kingdom buyers, who have fair stocks, including cheaper purchases of Canadian late flowering altaswede. Brown Top.—Some New Zealand holders have offered surplus stocks at from 600 s to 630 s c.i.f., but these prices have restricted the quantities used, cheaper seeds being substituted. Crested dogstail likewise has been offered at 400 s c.i.f., but this price is also unattractive to buyers. The demand for maple and partridge peas continues to be poor, and the market is passing through one of its quietest times. Little interest, consequently, is being shown in No. 1 New Zealand maple at 46s 6d to 47s 6d c.iX The outside value appears to be 465.

COMPANY NEWS

Felt and Textiles (Aust.).—Mortgage debenture interest is payable on February 28.—(P.A.) Central Otago Fruit Co.—The company traded at a loss of £237 for the year ended October 31. The directors do not recommend payment of a dividend.— (P.A.) Southland Frozen Meat.—A final dividend of 9d a share with a bonus of Is 3d is payable on March I—ex February 17. (P.A.) Massey Harris Merger.—Massey-Harris-Ferguson, Ltd., agricultural implement makers, of Toronto, Canada, is acquiring the remaining Australian interest in the Melbourne company of H. V. McKay-Mas-sey Harris Pty., Ltd., of Sunshine. For some time the Canadian company has held a minority of ,-the Sunshine company’s £A2,295,125 paid capital. A new £A10,000,000 company, by which the merger is being arranged, will make the Australian company virtually a subsidiary. The interests have been associated since 1930. The Massey-Harris-Ferguson organisation owns six factories in Canada, four in the United States, two in the United Kingdom, one in France, and two in Germany.

Development Work in Colonies.—The House or Commons has given an unopposed second reading to a bill to spend £120.000,600 on development work in the colonies in 1955-60. The bill extends the life of the old Colonial Welfare and Developments Act until March 31, 1960, and adds another £80,000,000 to the unexpended sum of £40,000.000 for aiding the colonies.—London, February 3.