FROST DAMAGE IN WHEAT

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33128, 19 January 1973, Page 12

FROST DAMAGE IN WHEAT

The Wheat Board has received a number of claims from growers in North Canterbury for compensation for suspected frost damage in crops.

The general manager of the board, Mr L. C. Dunshea. said on Tuesday that

as soon as the board received advice of damage it sent out a claim form to the grower and he said that at that stage they had been advised of 77 claims involving a total. area of about 1100 acres. Thirty of the claims were from the Oxford area, six from Scargill, 23 from CulverdenRotherham and eight from the Annat-Sheffield area. In all cases Mr Dunshea said that the damage was claimed to be due to frost and the majority Of the crops had been inspected by an assessor and a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and samples drawn from

the crops and submitted to the Crop Research Division of the Department of

Scientific and Industrial Research for their opinion. Mr Dunshea indicated that there could be some further claims yet. The wheatgrowers’ compensation fund, from which farmers will be compensated for damage, was in a very healthy state, Mr Dunshea said.

At January 31 last .year, it stood at $426,508. The growers’ contribution to the fund amounts to 20c per 50 bushels and in the event of damage to his crop covered by the scheme he meets the first third of his loss and the fund covers the remaining two-thirds.