WHAT FARMERS ARE DOING

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32879, 30 March 1972, Page 8

WHAT FARMERS ARE DOING

Through members of the New Zealand Society of Farm Management the Can-terbury-Westland branch of the society, in conjunction with the farm management and rural valuation at Lincoln College, has been trying to find out what effect the sheen retention incentive grant has had on the operations of farmers throughout the country and to what uses farmers are putting these funds. Members of the society have been asked to complete questionnaires relating to individual farmer’s situations and at the seminar on the scheme at Lincoln College last week-end Mr R. D. Plank, a lec-

turer in the farm management and rural valuation department at the college and secretary of the Can-terbury-Westland branch of the society, presented the results covering 500 farmers—altogether 560 ques-

tionnaires were returned. Reference has already been made to this in the general columns of “The Press” this week. The salient features of this survey were that on the 500 fairms sheep numbers at the end of June this year are expected to be 0.5 per cent lower than a year earlier, indicating that sheep numbers would be approximately, but barely, maintained, but cattle numbers are expected to rise 12.5 per cent, with breeding cow numbers rising an expected 12.6 per cent. The biggest drop in sheep numbers is expected to be on the fattening farms (1.6 per cent), which will also increase their cattle numbers by the biggest percentage, 13.9 per cent, although store sheep and cattle farms and also mixed sheep, cattle and cropping farms will also increase their

cattle numbers by a similar percentage, and the mixed farming propositions are also expected to increase their sheep tallies too. Over the 500 farms the grants will be used in the following way: additional sheep 7.8 per cent, additional cattle 21 per cent, deferred maintenance 13.9 per cent, plant purchase 6.1 per cent, additional buildings 2.6 per cent, additional debt repayment 18.6 per cent, additional tax 6.6 per cent, additional living expenses 2.4 per cent and balancing the budget 21.3 per cent.

And on the basis of this survey it has been calculated that over the country the sheep retention grants could reduce calls on the Government under the sheepfarmers’ supplementary finance scheme by about sB.7m. The director of the external economic policy and land use division of the Treasury, Mr C. H. Terry, told the meeting that while the State Advances Corporation had expected that the supplementary loans scheme might cost ssm to slom. so far calls under this heading had amounted to about $4.6m and were not likely to be much more. The director of the Economic Service of the Meat and Wool Boards, Mr F. L. Ward, also pointed to some evidence of effects of the sheep retention scheme and also the recent upturn in wool prices. The first of these was the 47 per cent increase in fertiliser sales last month compared with February last year. Earlier it had been estimated that about 11 per cent of farms would show a net loss in the current year, but this had now been reduced to 7 or 8 per cent, and whereas earlier the average net incomes of sheep farmers had been estimated at 10 per cent below last season and 30 per cent below 1969-70, it was now reckoned that they would be about the same as last season and about’ls or 16 per cent below 1969-70.