Call For Profitable Farming

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31771, 30 August 1968, Page 1

Call For Profitable Farming

(From Our Own Reporter)

WELLINGTON, August 29.

Farmers were getting tired of producing more in the face of everrising costs and it was no good producing more and more commodities that could not be marketed profitably,, Mr P. S. Plummer, the Dominion president of Federated Farmers warned the National Development Conference today.

The greatest emphasis must still be put on exports which would provide overseas funds, Mr Plummer said. Particular encouragement should be given to those industries which used to the

best advantage New Zealand's own resources. “We must broaden the base of our economy and make ourselves less vulnerable to fluc- : tuations in world prices for the comparatively few basic i products of our grasslands on

which our economy is currently so dependent,” he said.

“There is tremendous scope for increased processing of the products we already export in volume but in an unprocessed form.” The target for pastoral production meant that farmers must continue to expand at least as fast as they had over the last five years, Mr Plummer said. But increases in farm productidn would not be achieved unless they were profitable and this would depend upon an adequate flow of capital and technological resources.

Unless farming could compete for the resources on an equal footing with other industries the targets oould not be achieved.

The next 10 years, and particularly the next five, would clearly require a strong Government ready to implement fiscal measures that would ensure economic stability.

“The great danger I see is that in a burst of enthusiasm we see a return to the highly inflationary post-war years,” be said.

“This country, in spite of good prices and increasing production, has lived way beyond its means and has sustained its deficits by heavy overseas borrowing.” If the country was to increase production it must not allow the gains to be eroded by inflation. This could develop easily if mushrooming industries geared to the limited sales of the local market and protected from outside competitions bid up the resources of labour and capital.

Farmers would want to know what the conference was going to do about trying to hold costs to make the unit cost of production more profitable in export markets, said Mr Plummer.