Income figures upset farmers

Press, 27 May 1978, Page 7

Income figures upset farmers

Farm income figures published by the economic service of the Meat and Wool Boards are upsetting farmers. The annual conference of the North Canterburyprovince of Federated Farmers decided to form a sub-committee to approach the two boards to seek publication of figures which gave a more accurate and clearer picture of farm and farmers’ incomes. Mr J. C. Montgomery (Cheviot) said that there was universal dissatisfaction with the way that the figures were now presented. He had been' told that, about 50 per cent of people interpreted them wrongly, including “The Press,’’ he said, referring to an editorial published earlier in the year. “What business in town states its profit without allowing for tax,” he said after saying that no tax was included in the farm income figures. The senior vice-presi-dent (Mr A. L. Mulholland), said that he believed it would be better that no figures were published at all than in their present form. The conference approved a remit from its Omihi branch proposing

that Federated Farmers and the Ministry of Agriculture work out a formula for emergency relief, such as in periods of drought, that would be fair to all sections of the farming industry. It rejected a suggestion that special consideration should be given to term loans being used as the only form of drought relief. such loans to be repayable. The conference called on the federation to support the Consumer Council and to urge the Government to increase its financial support to the council to enable it to improve the protection it gave to farmers. Mr J. R. McKenzie (Omihi) said that more than SI2OM was spent on farm supplies ranging from nuts and bolts to big tractors. A former chairman of the agriculture section of the province, Mr G. E. Rennie (Irwell) was elected provincial president. Mr Mulholland was re-elected senior vice-pres-ident and Mr M. R. Barnett junior vice-president. A former president of the province from 1955 to 1957, Mr D. H. Butcher, was presented with the badge of life membership of the province.