“COLD SHOCK TO MANY OF OUR FARMERS”

Greymouth Evening Star, 31 August 1950, Page 4

“COLD SHOCK TO MANY OF OUR FARMERS”

WELLINGTON, This Day (P.A.). —“lt must have come as a cold shock to many of our farmers, who tried to do the fair thing by the English people, to be told in cold, calculated language .that they have all along been making good profits and even that last year’s increase in prices was not justified, because we placed money to reserve.” The chairman of the New Zealand Dairy Board, Mr W. E. Hale, stated this at the Dominion Dairy Conference today when discussing the break-down of the price negotiations with the British Ministry of Food. In other words, said Mr Hale, the dairy farmers were to be penalised because they had been thrifty and built up reserves. Referring to the new guaranteed price (published elsewhere), Mr. W. Marshall said that to arrive at the total increase in costs on a butterfat basis with the period April-August of last season, they had to add the increase in factories’ costs, which were 0.136 d per lb for butter and 0.375 d for cheese, bringing the total increase to 1.57 d of butterfat for butter and 1.809 d of butter for cheese.

“There are further charges against the Dairy Industries Account - for subsidies on fertiliser and lime and for advertising and administration,” he said. “Allowing for these, if the whole of our exportable surplus were sold at last season’s United Kingdom contract prices, the estimated deficit would be £175,000. “There appears also to be a general expectation that the recent interim increase in wages may be followed shortly by a further increase of a general nature. “The commission has given the Dairy Board an assurance that, if .this takes place during the year, I there will be an appropriate increase in the guaranteed price. Should this eventuate, the commission’s purj chase price costs will be considert ably above the price the United Kingdom is prepared to pay for our i butter and cheese,” concluded Mr Marshall.