SEED PRODUCTION

Evening Star, Issue 25634, 7 November 1945, Page 7

SEED PRODUCTION

N.Z. QUALITY HIGHER THAN EUROPEAN BIG EXPANSION OF INDUSTRY FORECAST (P.A.) FRANZ JOSEF, November 6. The twenty-seventh annual conference of the New Zealand Grain, Seed, j and Produce Merchants' Federation

was officially opened this morning. The president, Mr J. S. Skinner (Dunedin),' in the course of his address, expressed the hope that exporters, with the assistance of the British merchants, would be able to retain the identity of New Zealand seeds until they reached the British farmer. " The war years have seen a tremendous demand for our small seeds," Mr Skinner said, " particularly from our best buyer, Great Britain, and also from our neighbour across the T-asman, Australia. Admittedly Britain's principal source of supply and her cheapest market, the Continent, has ben denied her because of the war. But largely because of research and the selection of the best strains over the years preceding the war, we have ben aeble to supply a quality of seed that is incomparably better than that of European countries.

" When competition from these markets is again manifest, prices for our seeds, both certified and uncertified, must recede considerably, but it is to be hoped that our exporters, with tj>e assistance of the British merchants, will be able to retain the identity of OTir seeds till they reach the hands of the British. farmer. It is only by so doing that we may hoipe to secure that increased demand premium, that will encourage our seed growers to .treat production as a main source of income and not as a sideline. " To retain the identity of our seeds I suggest, first, that through publicity by a capable officer on the spot, plus advertising and field demonstrations', we would create and stimulate the inquiry for our seeds both from'the distributor and the farmer. Secondly, as the retail demand at Home is mostly for seed for small areas, it may be necessary to pack such lines as certified clovei's in small bags under a Dominion brand, as our brassica seed is packed at present, or the imported brassicas of pre-war days. This means "added work and a specialised treatment of our business that was not possible over the last six years, but we ' must look to the future and visualise on the one hand the overseas competition that we will have to meet, and on the other hand the potential growth and possibilities of seed production ■ in the Dominion. " There is room for a great deal more pioneering work on the part of the larger firms in so far as seed production is concerned,'' the President added. " There is, I contend, the need on their part for a much closer liaison with the Department of Agriculture, and a fuller utilisation of the information available from the department and the farms

under its control." . OUR DEPRECIATED CURRENCY.. The present exchange rate was criticised by the president, who said it placed a false value on the returns from New Zealand exports, and was one of the main contributing factors, together with high taxation and excessive tariff harriers, towards the high cost of-living.- He- added that when prices for New Zealand's primary products tumbled during the period between the two wars, the exchange rate was raised to 25 per cent, to meet the position. If at the time those who advocated and were responsible for this step had been asked when New. Zealand would revert to parity with the British pound, the answer would have been : " When the values of our primary products return to normal." That stago was reached with meat, butter, cheese, and wool long before the latest war, hut the position was never met, and N'ew Zealand still had a depreciated currency. " I realise full well that those who produce the bulk of the wealth of this country—the farmers—are those who benofit most by the exchange rate," Mr Skinner added. " My touching on this subject may raise criticism from our farmer friends, but of those advocates of a depreciation of our currency whenever we face a time of adversity, without immediately returning to parity when prices regain their former level, I would ask what the ultimate end will be, other than a currency that is almost valueless outside the Dominion? " ■ Following Mr Skinner's address, the conference wert into committee to consider a number of remits and reports of various committees. The guest speakers during the afternoon were Mr Alfred Tarlton, London manager of the National Mortgage and Agency Company, who spoke on London during the blitz, and Mr G. A. Holmes, an officer of the Department of Agriculture, who spoke on the pro. duction and marketing of grass' and clover seed." BIG EXPANSION FORESEEN. In the course of an interesting address Mr G. A. Holmes, of the Department of Agriculture, who recently returned from Britain, expressed the view that the seed exports could be expanded to three, four, or five times the quantity exported in 1944 without reducing the prices to unpayable levels. Mr Holmes referred to the potentialities of New Zealand and forecast groat progress in the not distant future in agricultural development along the best possible lines, in spite of former setbacks 1 and the many problems to be overcome. He said the war had provided an object lesson in demonstrating in Britain and other parts of the world the poor economy of leaving land in old runout pasture. As a consequence, tliero should be a marked increase in the demand for grass and clover seed. Mr Holmes appealed for, a higher standard of production by specialisation in seed growing and by improved methods of establishment, , manuring, and management. Seed growing was to be regarded as more than side line. He felt that the merchants' main headache was likely to arise from the bottleneck created by the inability of the existing plants to cope with machine dressing.