New Impetus For Agriculture

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30269, 23 October 1963, Page 12

New Impetus For Agriculture

The systematic efforts now being made to give new impetus to development of the nation’s agriculture should be helped by the conference at the end of this month to fix targets for production. The conference will have as a background for its work the results of recent inquiries into several aspects of farming, notably that of a committee set up by the Government and representing producer boards as well as government departments, which reported in July on the economic state of New Zealand’s farming industry. The conference will set up working parties of departmental officers and representatives of producer boards, farmers’ organisations, stock agents and other groups to assemble facts on farm finance, taxation. land and labour laws and land valuation. From all this information the Department of Agriculture, which is sponsoring the inquiry, believes it should be possible to assess fairly accurately the future of the farming industry. A comprehensive inquiry of this nature is probably the best way of helping farmers to plan ahead. As Mr H. M. Caselberg pointed out recently, farming is a long-term business, the industry must set its sight on worth-while targets and work and plan to achieve them. The farming industry must expand if the standard of living of an increasing population is to be maintained; even the flourishing and growing secondary industries depend on its increased earnings to assure the supply of raw materials A factual basis for consider-

ing to what extent production for export might be co-ordinated seems indispensable to any serious attempt to plan ahead. At the annual meeting of Wright, Stephenson and Company, Ltd., Mr C. U. Plimmer pointed to one matter that should concern the conference—the disquieting decline of capital investment in farming. Mr Plimmer advocated the establishment of an agricultural development corporation, not to replace existing farm borrowing facilities, but to co-ordinate and rationalise all the varied State and private services in this field. Finance beyond the limits governed by normal commercial practice would be necessary for the “ lot of land ” which could be made to produce more—but not at an economic cost to the individual farmer.

The erosion of farm capital by death duties is another question that must be considered seriously in any scheme to give new impetus to farming. As Mr Plimmer said, although rates have been reduced in recent years, many farmers lack enthusiasm to improve their properties because their estates would incur heavier death duty. Substantial relief would encourage land development and would attract more capital to the farming industry. Here is an opportunity for bold action by some future Government. The inquiry begun by the present Government will surely reveal that bold measures will be needed if precepts for expanding the nation's agriculture are to be put into practice.