Fixing Guarantees To British Farmer

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28987, 31 August 1959, Page 15

Fixing Guarantees To British Farmer

The potential of New Zealand and Australia to export primary produce is taken into account by the British Government in fixing the level of guarantees to the British farmer. This was made clear in Christchurch yesterday by the British Minister of Agriculture (Mr John Hare). “We have annual discussions! with your people and Australia, and we take these seriously when we are determining in February each year what the guaranteed prices will be. These discussions are not merely background discussions. We proclaim the fact,” said the Minister, who handed to a reporter a copy of 1959 Farm Price Review white paper in which he had underlined several sections. Mr Hare drew attention to a paragraph which reads: “The trend of production of sheep is ■ still upwards, but any further' exansion of production will need ! to be considered in the light of market prospects, including the expectation of more plentiful sup- i plies from Australia and New Zealand.” Another -section of which i he drew attention, says: “On the other hands, the wider interests! of the national economy and of ■ international relations, especially i with the Commonwealth, require that the industry’s dependence on support should be kept as low as possible.” “Good Customers” “We are producing about 50 per cent, of what we eat, and you are > making a very large contribution [ in filling up that other 50 per| cent.,” said Mr Hare. “I think | you will agree that we are jolly | good customers of yours. We are ! buying between 80 and 93 per cent. I of your lamb and dairy produce, and about 40 per cent of your! wool, and the terms of trade are actually running in your favour, i so I do not believe that any ofl you could feel that the Old Country is not a jolly good market for you.

“Things are going well at Home now. We have kept prices stable for more than a year, and we are looking forward to a further psriod of expansion solidly based with nothing inflationary about it. As people’s living standards rise we will want to buy more of what you send to us.” Mr Hare was told that frequently when farmers tn New Zealand discussed marketing of New Zealand produce in the United Kingdom they felt that they were labouring at a disadvantage in the face of the high level of support of British agriculture.

Review of Industry A section of the latest review of the sheep industry issued by the economic service of the Meat and Wool Boards was read to the Minister. It says that as an indication of the effect of the British Government’s agricultural policy on the British taxpayer the cost of agricultural support in 1957-58 amounted to £2B4m and in 1958-59 it is estimated at. £24Bm, including some £som for. production grants.

“Since the actual net farm income in 1957-58 was £354m, of which subsidies comprised £2B4m, it follows that if it were not for Government assistance there would be very little net profit in British agriculture,” states the service. “If these remarks are valid, our chief rival in the United Kingdom market is not Argentina

but the British Treasury, and our best course of action in the long run is to keep the United Kingdom well supplied with New Zealand meat, which will have the effect of demonstrating to the British taxpayer the high real cost of home-produced meat.” “Answer Simple” “The answer is quite a simple one,” said Mr Hare. “You will find no political party in England that will allow our countryside to be turned into a rural slum. All political parties for social, economic, and strategic reasons believe that a prosperous farming economy should be maintained. Our objective is in fact to make the farming industry self supporting, and from the figures you have quoted you will see that our subsidies have been reduced over the last two years. The policy is, by means of the production grants particularly, to enable people tP become more self-sufficient, so you will see a continuing reduction in subsidies.”