Farmers’ S.M.P.s

Press, 18 March 1982, Page 20

Farmers’ S.M.P.s

Sir—A year ago I asked Mr Joe Ryan, now general manager of Waitaki N.Z. Refrigerating, Ltd, about the inability of the meat industry to process and market our products without turning back increases in farm production. I commented that there had been an approximately 1000 per cent , increase in charges by the industry to take our product from farm to market. Also, capital to rebuild freezing works from North Cape to Bluff, was taken off the value of our product and not supplied by shareholders as capital normally is. This helped Mr Ryan's company pay out 18 per cent on shares that year and this year, after a very bad time with beef, the share payout is 21 per cent from a profit of more than $lB million. I suggested that farmers, like shareholders, had a stake and were struggling to make 1 per

cent on capital. The say of farmers should be restored in the community. We are small in number but large in the national income. — Yours, etc., David Bell, Rakaia Gorge. March 16,. 1982.