DAIRY PRODUCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 59, 7 September 1937, Page 12

DAIRY PRODUCE

GUARANTEED PRICE

THE CHEESE DIFFERENTIAL

MR. NASH MEETS DIRECTORS

(By Telegraph—Press 'Association.) STRATFORD, This Day. The Minister, of Marketing (the Hon. W. Nash) addressed' 500 ■ dairy company .directors; today, revealing certain aspects of the\reports -on- which the guaranteed prices have been' based. Before he arrived the' meeting briefly discussed the question and .passed a resolution that the Minister be asked to supply the data on which, the. prices were fixed. ' Concern was expressed at the rising costs and several, who were . not, contradicted, said the present price was all that, the market warranted, : but they considered that cheese was'getting, too much. Mr. G. Gibson expressed surprise at the. deficit in : the dairy account of £650,000 when cheese ■ must hays shown a surplus of £400,000. A lighter note was struck by Dr. Hucker, American expert' in mammitis. In his address he commented that farmers the world over were the same and he pointed to the array of motor-cars outside the hall. Mr. Nash made a special visit, motoring from Wellington and leaving again immediately after, the meeting. . His arrival was delayed for almost half an hour. ■•',., . The Minister was warmly greeted, and announced that he would answer questions. He said that none of the criticism so far as Taranaki was concerned had been, unfair.* The average pay-out for ten years showed that cheese was .86d per lb better than butter. It was clearly shown: to the Government that the differential should b<? l^d per lb. It was found at the end of the season that it had not shown this margin because too much was allowed for butter manufacture ■; costs and not enough.for cheese. There was some case for meeting the representations of the cheese producers, who might have changed to butter if they had known what would happen.