The Press WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 1968. Marketing

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31763, 21 August 1968, Page 12

The Press WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 1968. Marketing

A thought-provoking summary of the prospects and problems of marketing New Zealand’s exports of primary products was given at the annual conference yesterday of the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural Science. Mr P. D. Blomfield had little comfort for the dairy producer: “The greater proportion of the “ world’s dairy products is consumed in Europe and “ North America, yet there is now no country in “ these regions which freely admits dairy products ”. A Government subsidy, he said, might be necessary to assist the dairy industry if the New Zealand Dairy Board had to sell on markets indefinitely exposed to keen competition from the dumped surpluses of less efficient producers. The increasing production of synthetics, at reduced prices, would continue to depress the price for wool “ as it has hitherto been marketed in New “ Zealand ”, in Mr Blomfield’s opinion. New Zealand eats half the beef it produces, but only 6 per cent of its lamb: he regards beef as the meat with the best market prospects while lamb has limited export potential. “It seems astonishing that the only person who “ promotes New Zealand lamb on the domestic “market is the local.butcher—on the few occasions “ when he cares to do so ”. Mr Blomfield’s suggestions for improving the marketing of New Zealand exports will be unpalatable to many producers and traders. They include diversification of dairy products, the further processing of wool in New Zealand, and the switch of some meat production from lamb to beef.

Perhaps the main significance of this paper is the audience to whom it was addressed. The Institute of Agricultural Science comprises graduates in this field, most of them university or Government scientists. Traditionally, the institute has concerned itself with production rather than marketing. The address and discussion yesterday are welcome evidence that scientists see the need for all the complex productive processes—including research—to be oriented more directlv towards the end-result—the market. When all producers in the New Zealand economy—in the secondary and tertiary as well as in the primary industries —are producing what the market requires rather than what suits them to produce, the balance of payments will take, care of itself.