‘Farmers not to be taken for granted’

Press, 18 July 1979, Page 2

‘Farmers not to be taken for granted’

Wellington reporter

The public and the com-; munity at large could not! take fanners for granted, \ said the president of Fed-1 erated Farmers (Mr A. F. l Wright) at the annual con-| ference yesterday. It could not be presumed; that farmers would be able to produce on a stop-go) basis as international demands varied from day to ! day, Mr Wright said. Balanced long-term poli--ties were necessary to keep an industry in efficient run-i ning order, and this applied no less to farming than to' manufacturing, he said. New Zealand might noti have a future for markets unless it ensured the continuing growth of farming to cater for future needs. “Now is the time to issue a quiet warning that farmers will not go on producing just for the sake of producing,” Mr Wright said. Unless a balanced approach to marketing was followed, nationally’ and inter-! nationally, farmers might p have no option but to reduce! their production rather than continue increasing it, he, said. ;; If agriculture was to ex-; I pand to its capability, urgent i attention was needed to the!’ present taxation structure, > < W'hich tended to discourage it increased production. Many farmers could in-j’ crease production but did not!:

(believe that the extra effort land cost was worth it, Mr ’Wright said. New Zealand’s ; biggest export-earning in'dustry was denied the export (tax incentives given to non.agricultural exporters. ; The Government had to re- ■ consider taxation incentives (for farming, particularly for > increased production, he said. Restructuring would have To go much further than at present. The federation (strongly supported a tariff (system, rather than the present import licensing. If reasonably high tariffs were , introduced they would enjsure that import-substitution industries would still have reasonable protection, but would stay within acceptable limits. At present applications for price increases were granted virtually automatically, Mr Wright said. , The Government had effectively abolished price control in the freezing industry, but it had not yet made progress (towards more competition (among the freezing companj ies. Farmers responded more readily to calls for higher production when they could ;be sure that the processing ( industry was capable and willing to harvest their • efforts when the crop was ready, he said. Mr Wright, of Sheffield, i was re-elected president for I another year.