WHEAT AND FLOUR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 147, 11 March 1918, Page 8

WHEAT AND FLOUR

PRICES FOR NEXT SEASON

STILL UNDER CONSIDERATION

It has been. reported in the- town that ithe Government "has fixed the prico of flour at £15 a. ton. No announcement to this effect lias lieen made, and if there is any truth at all in tho report, it must apply oniy to tho flour milled from tho wheat of tho harvest just closed, and from such wheat'as has been imported from Australia in tho past few months. 'The present.prico of flour is £15 a ton. The Government has been considering recently tho question, of the -prieo tu.be allowed for flour from .next seasun's harvest. Tho farmers have been : Baying ;ihat they-cannot grow wheat at the'prioe of ss. lOd. a bushel, and the Government has had to consider how any advance on that prico will affect the prico of flour, and so affect tho price of the loaf. First, it is pro.posed that the price to be allowed for flour shall be fixed, and for this purpose teme 'parsons representing the Government, prohably the Board of Trade, will, meet the Flour Millers' €ominitt<?o.' It that after tliat meeting it will be possible for .the Government to agree upon the maximum price for flour, and when that has heen- done, 'the price to be paid.for wheat will be announced. The price will be a small advance on that paid last year. The Government will offer something like 6s. a bushel, possibly a little more', but it is stated that there is not the smallest of the Government agieeing to pay the prices of 7s. or 7s. Cd., which some bodies of farmers have Raid is tho lowest at which they can afford to grow wheat. Tbese farmers are probahly stating no less or more than the simple truth. Wheat-growing is toot a profitable branch of farming in this country, even in good years, and it is admittedly the most' precarious of all farming ventures. It is especially so in these times, when labour is so very expensive, and so difficult to obtain. For these reasons -it is probable that the Government ..will 'hot this year press the farmers to" (.'row wheat, if ihey do not consider the. price sufficient. Last year an appeal was made to. them on patriotic grounds to grow enough wheat here to feed tho New Zealand population. At that time it ivas thought that it'would he a matter of the most extreme difficulty to bring over from Australia any of the huge accumulated surplus in store there, bat it is not nmv considered that there will be any difficulty in petting across wheat for our own needs.