WORKING WITH FARMERS

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30100, 6 April 1963, Page 7

WORKING WITH FARMERS

|7EW men know Canterbury 1 and its farmers better than Mr I. H. Barker, of Christchurch, who after 26 years’ service has retired as an organiser first for the Farmers’ Union and later Federated Farmers. It has been his responsibility to persuade farmers to ' join their organisation. As a fanner on Banks Peninsula before starting this work at the beginning of 1937, Mr Barker believes that he had the essential background for this job in being able to meet farmers on their own ground with a sympathy for their problems.

Controversy

About the time he began work, a controversy was raging in the dairy industry about the guaranteed price for butterfat, with the Farmers’ Union advocating a graduated scale of prices, and in this unsettled atmosphere he found that the going was not easy amongst the dairy farmers, who discovered that while their price was fixed their costs were not. The war period with its shortages of labour and spare parts for machinery, and petrol restrictions was not easy for the farmer or for Mr Barker, who had at times to put aside his car for a bicycle. At this time he formed the opinion, contrary to general belief, that Canterbury is not all flat and the wind seemed always to be blowing in his face. At this time he frequently brought to the attention of his organisation shortages and problems on farms that were passed on to the primary production councils. Paying tribute to the “essential reasonableness” of farmers, he said that only twice in his 26 years had he been shown the gate and only once bitten by a dog "There isn’t a farmer I could not go back and see again,” he says.

About the time of the change from the Farmers’ Union to Federated Farmers, Mr Barker recalls that he had arranged for about 11 meetings. All had to be subsequently rearranged because of the big snow storm and gales of 1945. Mr Barker was initially organiser in North, Mid and South Canterbury and the West Coast. He believes that the West Coast was the easiest area to work over

with at one time more than 95 per cent, of farmers belonging to their' organisation. The reason, he thinks, was that many farmers there were former miners or bush men and belonging to a Union was part and parcel of their life. Incidentally, Mr Barker gives top marks to West Coasters for hospitality but not such high marks for climate. He recalls an abortive mission to address five meetings there. Initially he travelled to Jacksons by way of Otira to find both the road and rail blocked by slips and returned home. Three weeks later he tried again and due to petrol restrictions —it was war-time —he put his car on the rail at Springfield. On arrival at Arthur’s Pass he found that slips were again across the line and the next two nights he spent trying to sleep in

his car on a truck at Otira. When the train cm the second night did get to Jacksons be was left alone on a siding with his car in teeming rain. With the aid of a sharp knife he managed to free the ropes, which were as tight as could be, got his car on to the loading bank and set ouit for Greymouth. The following night when he set out to speak at a meeting at Inchbonnie he found at Mitchells that he could not get through and eventually be returned home with only one of the five meetings held. Recently Mr Barker’s work has been confined to North Canterbury where between 1937 and 1962 membership has increased by 75 per cent. Something that has encouraged him in his work, he says, is the belief that he has been working in the interests of an organisation in which every farmer should be pulling his weight.