Need For Farm Labour By 1972 Assessed

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30880, 13 October 1965, Page 25

Need For Farm Labour By 1972 Assessed

New Zealand needs a farm labour force of about 123,000 by 1972 if it is to achieve its target of a 4 per cent annual rise in farm and export production, says the Australia and New Zealand Bank’s qaurterly survey. This estimate, based on the same rate of increase in productivity in the last 10 years, is 4000 more than the estimated 1964 farm labour force. “An expansion of the farm labour force and of those employed in ancillary industries is needed if the increase in farm and export production is to be met,” says the survey. Two labour problems face the farm industry—-the retention of existing workers and the recruitment of new workers.

This is a problem of sociology as well as of economics, because of the drift from rural to urban areas. The number of boys leaving school who planned to go farming fell from 25 per cent in 1953 to 17 per cent in 1962, but this is still well above the 13 per cent of the total labour force employed in farming. “Potentially, this indicates that there are sufficient school-leavers to satisfy farm needs,” adds the survey. One serious problem is the numbers leaving farming after reaching 25 years. Easier transfers within the industry, extension of training schemes, and greater recognition of skills would help to retain the labour. Economic Policy “While farmers have a responsibility to maximise output, economic policy should be aimed at controlling labour and other production costs,” the survey says. “Failure to achieve this national objective could defeat or seriously undermine the programme to increase export production.”