‘Farmers have had a gutsful'

Press, 20 July 1977, Page 3

‘Farmers have had a gutsful'

From D. L. FYFE in Wellington

Farmers had had “a gutsful” of increasing production, only to find themselves in j better off and the benefits I they had gained being taken Iby others, Mr R. J. Drake i (Auckland) told the annual conference of Federated Farmers at Wellington yesterday. Mr Drake spoke in support of a remit from Auckland and Waikato provinces, laying down that sufficiency of income for farmers should be the main aim of the federation. The conference clarified the purpose of this as being to ensure that an adequate level of investment was maintained in the industry. • Mr Drake said that farmers were also tired of being blamed for the nation’s ills when prices for their products rose, and then being ignored when they fell again. The conference approved the objective of income sufficiency, and also supported a proposal that the Government be urged to reassess its priorities in line with the general principles of the task force report, which concluded that in the medium-term future the bulk of New Zealand’s foreign exchange would still come from agriculture, and I that better medium-term planning of Government policies was needed if agricultural output was to grow. Mr A. B. McCallum (Wairarapa) said that he wandered how many reports of committees and task forces would be necessary before the Government would act on them. However, the conference expressed its support for the . efforts of the Government, {and in particular the Minisl ter of Overseas Trade (Mr | Taiboys) in seeking to maini tain continued access to I overseas markets for New {Zealand produce.