AGRICULTURE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 2 May 1922, Page 5

AGRICULTURE.

GREAT DEPRESSION IN BRITAIN

PAYING EXPENSES OUT OF

CAPITAL

SYDNEY, April 17. Producers in Great Britain have lately been, and are still, passing through very hard times owing to the vi;ry yeat fall, in the ruling prices for .(iimaiy produce.* According to Mr. Alex. Hay, M.P. for New England, who :< : turned from England by the Naldera iast week, the position of the British farmer is most deplorable, and in many cases current expenses are being paid out of capital. When to the troubles incidental to their calling the burden ot taxation is added, the outlook of the farmers is all the more gloomy. Jn most other industries the high cost of production can be "passed on," but the product of the farmer is governed ini.ro or less by world conditions.

"The opening of the 1922,*' said Mr. Hay, in the course of an interview, "found the agricultural industry with a situation which is probably unprecedented. There have been depressions in agriculture as well as in all other industries, but never has the agriculturist had to face so sudden a fall in prices and changes in conditions as that which has taken place in the last twelve months. The following figures show the prices for several commodities in December 1920 and 1921 respectively: Wheat, 86s 9d and 45s 3d; barley, 72s 7d and 44s sd; oats, 42s 9d and 28s 4d. The drop in live stock has been phenomenal, many graziers having lost £10 to £15 on bullocks after keeping them for six months, while frequently sheep have showed a loss of from £2 to £3 per head. "With regard to wool," continued MiHay, "the position is even more depressing. In 1920 the prices of higher grade wool had risen to 3s and 4s a lb. At the end of 1921 they had dropped to Is a lb, equal to 12s or 16s a sheep. In fact, the price of wool for all brands is less by some peitce a lb than before the war. This fall in prices has been rapid, and out of all proportion to the fall in the cost of production, and many farmers have been able to carry on only hy paying current expenses out of capital. This they are bound to do or let their farms go out of cultivation. Milk for production is the most satisfactory of farmers' undertakings at present, but here again unfavourable factors are the high cost of artificial food, the heavy drop in prices for dairy stock and, for culls sent to the butcher. The position of the farmer and producer is still misunderstood in England, as it is in Australia, by consumers. The fall in retail prices is out of all proportion to the price received by farmers for their produce. If the fall in the prices received by the producers were extended to the consumers there would be a great reduction in the cost of living. Thus, while the price of labour and of all material shows only a slight decline, the prices of farm products have dropped all round. Large areas of proven, land have already gone out of I cultivation, and unless there is some change in the present conditions much more land will be similarly affected."

Railway transport is another item which has increased enormously in cost, and remains almost at the high level it reached in 1919 and 1920. Agriculture is largely dependent, upon cheap transport in England, as elsewhere. According to Mr. Hay's information, it costs more to send a quarter of wheat from York to London than from the United States to London.

"No wonder," Mr. Hay added, "that the British farmer is seeking temporary relief from the Government in order to prevent a general debacle. Among remedies proposed is the marking of all imports, so that there may be some measure of protection."