FARMING OUTLOOK

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20629, 9 August 1941, Page 2

FARMING OUTLOOK

: POLICY OF CAUTION NO NEW COMMITMENTS A;-policy of caution in making new farming commitments is advised by •Mr. H.- E. Rhodes, chairman of directors of the Te Amawatu Co-operative Dafry-Company, Limited, in the report to be presented to the annual meeting of shareholders. In spite of repeated representations from the industry, the report states, the Government still maintained its -policy of paying for produce only Iwhen it is placed f.o.b. for export. ;The only assurance received so far was that the Government would ‘ “confer with the industry” should conditions become abnormal.

Consequently, the directors of the Te. Ama>vatu company urged their suppliers to act with the greatest caution before undertaking any financial commitments. Every effort should be made by suppliers to consolidate their financial position by curtailing borrowing to an absolute minimum. Farmers should be content to maintain their farms in good heart at the present rate of production, so that -they might be ready to take advantage of better times when the war had 1 been brought to a successful conclusion.

There would be a strong demand for New Zealand produce at the conclusion of hostilities, the report adds, but it must be born in mind that the .countries ox Europe would be inpoverished, and that New Zealand .producers must face the prospect of lower realisations for dairy produce in Great Britain. Increased production of dairy produce was not wanted today, said Mr. R. A. Candy, chairman of directors of the Auckland Herd Improvement Association, at the annual meeting of the asssociation. He advised farmers to; plan.-their work carefully. Money Was’not available for developing new country or partly-developed ■ land. The policy Should be to look after the land-that had been developed and not 30£tfough an acre of virgin country. Apart from anything else, the reduction of fertiliser rations made this policy imperative.