Farming

Press, 7 October 1988, Page 8

Farming

Sir,—When I started this correspondence I had no quarrel with manufacturers. However, J. Lardner (September 30) raises several matters worthy of comment. I agree the profitability of sheep farming is abysmal, not helped by the overnight removal of S.M.P.s but, alas, not the removal of the resultant grossly inflated structure. On the other hand manufacturers’ export incentives were phased out over three years, giving the industry time to adjust, and many import tariffs are still in place. If farmers have to sell on a world market why must we buy on a protected local market? Unlike manufacturing, farming cannot stop, start, or change production at will. The oversupply of the lamb market was the culmination of five years of encouragement by the Government to “produce more lambs.” What does Mr Lardner expect? Needless to say, lamb production has declined by approximately 35 per cent in the last three years, which to my mind is a reasonable achievement. If manufacturers can forgo a year’s income and survive, the way Mr Lardner suggests farmers should, then possibly they no longer need the tariff protection they currently enjoy. — Yours, etc., TIMOTHY F. DAVISON. October 3, 1988.