‘Farmers Forced More Into Debt’

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32118, 14 October 1969, Page 18

‘Farmers Forced More Into Debt’

(New Zealand Press Association)

MARTON, October 13.

Government aid to farmers is—instead of helping them—forcing them steadily further into debt, the president of Taihape Federated Fanners (Mr P, G. Clark) said in Marton today.

Earlier a meeting of the Rangitikei branch of Federated Farmers executive had unanimously adopted an economic. farm report written by Mr Clark which claimed that 75 per cent of the nations’ farmers could be forced off the land within 5 years if present economic conditions continued within the industry. The report is based on investigations by a special committee appointed at a Feder-

ated Farmers interprovincial conference in Palmerston North earlier this year. It also says that farmers have little chance of attaining the targets for increased production set by the Agricultural Development Conference in 1964 and the National Development Conference this year.

Questioned after today’s meeting, Mr Clark said the continued injection into farm-

ing of more and more loan capital and subsidies was ridiculous. “This policy is causing the farmer to get further into debt,” he said. “The farmer who is desperate borrows more money for what he hopes will be a more economic farming unit but he finds that the return on the capital he borrows and invests is less than the interest on the loan,” said Mr Clark. “The lowest farm loan money available is from the State Advances Corporation at 71 per cent interest, but the meat and wool economic, service estimates that the return on capital invested in farming today is only between. 3 and 4 per cent. ‘This is poor investment. The farmer merely increases, bis indebtedness.” Mr Clark said the commit-, tee’s report offered eight steps by which the Government could put farming on a profitable basis. These included reduction of death and gift duties, land and income tax reduction and the introduction of an incentive' tax system, the elimination of protectionism in secondary industry, a curb on the “irresponsible" behaviour of trade unions, moves to establish a less restricted trading system, and better market research.