Meat production may not pay for oil

Press, 18 June 1980, Page 3

Meat production may not pay for oil

PA Wellington, It is questionable whether) the whole of New Zealand’s > meat production would pay for its oil this year, according to the managing director of the Challenge Corporation (Mr R. R. Trotter). Mr Trotter, . addressing Federated. Farmers at its agricultural section’s confer-: fence which began in Wel-| lington yesterday, said, ■ “In 1973, it took one-fifth, of our meat production to i (purchase bur oil require- j ments from overseas, -he j said. - . „ ' The problem for New Zea-, land, with its chronic bal-ance-of-pavments constraint, was that' the imported oil icontent, of . energy requirei ments ’represented some §l3OO mifffrn.

On a national basis, how-; jever, the energy used in 'agriculture was small; and ‘fuel oil use was only 6 per cent of national demand, although diesel use was higher, at 11 per cent of national demand. “Because of the importance of the agricultural sector in earning overseas (funds, it appears unlikely (that energy supply will be a (serious: constraint to future! '(development,” Mr Trotter, i said. j . He saw agriculture . re-| ■ mainihg the key to- New! (Zealand’s wealth. I , “In evaluating possible i (strategies for the long-term • I development' of New Zealand ;(agriculture, consideration of I energy Efficiency in produc-

tion may give a guide to long-term competitive advantage,’ Mr Trotter said. “Energy-intensive farming operations which yield little net energy — dairy farming, for example — may become less economic compared with energy-efficient farming operations -such as cropping or horticulture,” he said. On energy farming, Mr Trotter said he thought it ■unlikely that there would be (large-scale ethanol producjtion in New Zealand in the jnext 15 to 20 years. I “We need A comIprehensive economic' strate- : gv that rewards hard work, thrift, and enterprise;'arid 1 encourages innovation and ‘.flexibility to adjust to ■ markets," he said.