Hardship Predicted For Dairy Farmers

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31783, 13 September 1968, Page 14

Hardship Predicted For Dairy Farmers

Serious financial hardship would be caused many dairy farmers by the recent-ly-announced reduction in the price paid to town-milk suppliers, said the chairman of the dairy section of North Canterbury Federated Farmers (Mr F. H. Eggleston) yesterday.

In a supplied statement, Mr Eggleston said that the reductions had placed the townmilk supplier in the same positon as the butterfat producer, who also faced drasti-cally-reduced profitability. The dairy section executive had discussed the situation, and had resolved that it supported the Town Milk Suppliers’ Federation in its request to the Government for restoration of the price for town milk. It had also decided to endorse any approach which might be made for an increase in the butterfat price. Because of increased efficiency, dairy farmers had, until now, been able to absorb increases in the costs of production, and would probably have been able to continue to do so had the price to the producer been maintained, Mr Eggleston said. The only real similarity between town-milk and butterfat production was that both producers were now facing heavily-reduced incomes. The butterfat producer was in the unfortunate position that his products were bringing lower prices on world markets, which were over-supplied by countries where the dairy industry was heavily subsidised.

The butterfat producer had no control over the realised prices, and must accept what was offered. The Government was aware of this, and had recognised it by extending the bank-guarantee scheme, previously available only to sheep-farmers, to dairy farmers, Mr Eggleston said. However, the town-milk supplier sold only for domestic consumption, and the prices were fixed not by overseas prices but by the Government.

“Earlier this year, the Government announced its intention to reduce the basic price of wheat, and it took very strong representation to have the prices restored, although under less favourable conditions.

“Now the town-milk supplier has been singled out—and it is difficult to understand why the Government considers that the farmer who produces for the domestic market should be asked to accept reduced incomes, when most sections of the community are receiving increases,’’ Mr Eggleston said.