Wheat Surplus May Be Up To 600,000 Bushels

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30794, 5 July 1965, Page 10

Wheat Surplus May Be Up To 600,000 Bushels

This season Southland had an estimated wheat surplus of between 450,000 and 600,000 bushels, said the general manager of the Wheat Committee (Mr L. C. Dunshea). However, the disposal of the surplus to the North Island was going very smoothly and already about 210,000 bushels had been shipped from Southland. Three bulk shipments of wheat, each of 1000 tons, had been made in the Manganui from Bluff to Auckland and this ship was expected to load another consignment at Bluff for the same destination on July 13.

In addition, shipments of bag wheat in consignments of 500 tons, 1000 tons and 1700 tons were made to the North Island during June. Mr Dunshea said the surplus Southland wheat would displace a percentage of the North Island’s imports from Australia.

In North Otago the severe drought during the summer resulted in the district not fulfilling its requirements, and North Canterbury, including Christchurch, was also unable to supply its own needs.

However, Mid and South Canterbury had surplus crops which were channelled to North Canterbury and North Otago. This last harvest is estimated by the Government Statistician to give a total yield for the Dominion of 9.016 m bushels from an estimated area sown to wheat of 184,000 acres. The Dominion average was estimated to be about 49 bushels per acre, Mr Dunshea said.

In 1964, the wheat harvest totalled 10.07 m bushels from 203,960 acres, the largest harvest for 31 years, he said. The average yield last year was 49 bushels an acre. General indications for the coming season were that the acreage sown would be more than in the last season because of the price increase and also because of droughtaffected pastures having to be ploughed, Mr Dunshea said.