“TOUGH GOING” FOR SOME FARMERS

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31628, 14 March 1968, Page 12

“TOUGH GOING” FOR SOME FARMERS

Established fanners were not too alarmed at the present rather gloomy picture, but the young man who had bought dear land recently would find the going pretty tough, said the retiring president (Mr H. G. Hartnell) at the annual meeting of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association yesterday. The rise in costs, which had continued for many years at an alarming rate, had recently showed some signs of rising less steeply, but that picture had been altered by devaluation, Mr Hartnell said. Exports • should return farmers more, but it would be some time before the full effects of devaluation on farming prosperity could be assessed. Prospects for meat seemed to the experts to be reasonably good for this year. They were optimistic about the American market for New Zealand beef. Dairy produce was selling reasonably well, but the future of the market continued to be overshadowed by the capacity for overproduction shown by the main dairying countries. Wool had shown some improvement, but it was a hesitant move at best. Even the best stronger wools had not yet exhibited any great

strength, and inferior strong wools seemed to have few friends.

The immediate prospects for these descriptions, in the face of a 700,000 bale stockpile, were certainly not encouraging.