Farm-Produce Outlook

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31764, 22 August 1968, Page 14

Farm-Produce Outlook

At least for the next few years the outlook for dairy produce was sombre and for meat generally good, “although not as glorious as some agricultural journalists would have us believe,” Mr J. V. White, director of the economics section of the Department of Agriculture, said to the annual conference of the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural Science yesterday.

“For political reasons major policy adjustments in countries which are uneconomic dairy producers seem

unlikely,” he said. “Economic growth in developing countries does not seem likely to be rapid enough to enable them to become major commercial markets in the reasonably near future. “To what extent we can persuade industrial countries to contribute to multilateral schemes to finance what we cannot sell commercially noone can say. Prospects are dubious, but not at the stage at which hope should be abandoned.”

The meat outlook was generally good, but there were

still many restrictions and potential restrictions on trade.

“I would suggest that with rather more emphasis on beef, perhaps some change in breeding practices with sheep and vigorous promotion of lamb, our livestock industries will remain substantially the same, but if we are to continue to expect an increase in export earnings in real terms of 4 per cent a year over the next 10 years, a larger proportion will have to come from either other farm products or other sectors of the economy, or more likely a mixture of both.”

Mr White said he would guess that wool prices might be a little above present levels. A rise of 2c or 3c per lb was as much as could be expected. Indeed, if the price went higher the market would be given over to synthetic fibres.