Mr Watt Criticises Wheat Price Cut

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31597, 7 February 1968, Page 24

Mr Watt Criticises Wheat Price Cut

(From Our Own Reporter?

WELLINGTON, February 6.

“The Government’s ‘stop-go’ policy for farming is just not good enough,” said the Deputy Leader of the Opposition (Mr Watt) when asked today about the Labour Party’s attitude to the Government’s move to reduce payments to wheatgrowers.

“Although New Zealand at one time was an exporter of wheat, production rapidly declined under the first National Government and reached an alltime low in 1956-57 when only 66,000 acres were grown.

“The second Labour Government increased the payment to growers and thus reversed the production decline. Last year 288,000 acres were produced. Production increased and imports of wheat fell.

“The policy of approaching self-sufficiency in wheat, which is, in New Zealand’s case, a reasonable objective, has been reached in recent years, and now, because the Government fears that we may grow more wheat than we can eat or use, we should prevent the crop from expanding. “If the Government goes on with its short-sighted policy of deliberately cutting down

the carefully built-up price structure for wheat farmers, it will have done something which will take many years to repair. Saving Of Exchange

“In response to the exhortations of the Agricultural Production Council and its advisory committee, farmers both in the North and South Islands have responded magnificently to meeting the objective of self-sufficiency in wheat as a means of conserving foreign exchange. In recent years the New Zealand wheatgrowers, by increasing production, have saved foreign exchange at the rate of some sl3m annually. “The farmer ought to know as far ahead as possible what his wheat-growing programme is to be, and a sudden reduction in price arid income has nothing to commend it. “The reduction in the programme for growing Hilgendorf wheat is also a mistake, for this wheat is a wheat with such good baking qualities as to be necessary to blend with the other wheat grown in New Zealand. "If this reduction in price

means a reduction in acreage, then New Zealand will have to import more wheat and with devaluation will have to pay more, and any importing would be much more expensive than In the past. Such unnecessary drain in our overseas funds would be a further disadvantage in our trade balance with Australia.

“It may be argued that the disposal of any wheat surplus to New Zealand’s needs may cost money. To some extent this may be so, but surely it is better to carry any surplus over to next season, or give it to a hungry world as part of our international relief obligations, than to grow it at all, and put many farmers into financial difficulties —make them suspicious of growing cereal crops and of the whole guaranteed price system, as well as lose valuable foreign exchange. “The reason given by the Minister for reducing the price of wheat to the farmers is the increased acreage grown, but a recent survey by the Government Statistician shows that while damage by storm was exaggerated, it was still likely that the over-all result of the seasonal conditions would be a reduction in the average yield per acre previously estimated. In other words, there is no guarantee that there will be a surplus of wheat this year. "Finally, with this reduction in price to the grower will the Government assure cheaper wheat, cheaper flour and cheaper bread to the consumer?”