Farming exports targets ‘soon’

Press, 28 March 1980, Page 11

Farming exports targets ‘soon’

A campaign of primary sector export targets for 1984 would be announced Soon by Federated Farmers,* ’said the. Dominion . vice-president (Mr R. W. Storey) in Christchurch. Addressing a. meeting of the executive of North Canterbury Federated Farmers executive, Mr Storey said the export targets would be met providing the present economic climate was at least maintained. _ Farmers were asking that they should be treated as export producers on the same basis aS other exporters, he said.

Referring to the fliexible exchange rate introduced last year, Mr Storey said it was not working in the way the public were told it would work.

“We understood the fig= ure would be assessed monthly, but it now appears the rate is being altered to arrive at a fixed point. At present that is a devaluation of about five per cent,” Mr Storey said. As the exchange rate was altered by the same rate each time it became “devaluation by instalment.”

Federated Farmers were not “unduly concerned” about the action of the Government .to sell land

on the Coromandel Peninsula to an Arabian prince, said Mr Storey. Existing legislation was adequate to prevent any great influx of foreign investment into New Zealand. However, if this was to be a precedent for the Government to override the legislation again in the future, the federation would be extremely concerned and would press for the legislation to be strengthened, he said.

Farmers would lose the use of agricultural chemicals if their effects were not explained and public opinion was swayed against their use, Mr Storey said. The federation had taken a low profile on the campaign against the use of such chemicals as 2,4.5T, and 2.4,5-D, but the Friends of the Earth had given fair warning that this would be made an issue at local body, elections this year. Without the use of these chemicals, farm production costs would rise and farm production would decrease markedly, Mr Storey said. Inspite of the evidence in favour of agricultural chemicals the argument could still be lost if accusations were left unchallenged.