DAIRYING COSTS

Hokitika Guardian, 14 September 1937, Page 6

DAIRYING COSTS

FARMERS’ UNION REPLY. BUTTER - FAT P IK) I) U CTION. (Per Press Association—Copyright). AVKLLIXGTON, September JR. Referring to-day to tin* differen; e ol opinion with the Alinistcr lor AJarketing ttlie Hon AYalter Xash) about tin* cost of production of butter-fat, Mr A. P. O’Shea, Dominion secretary of the Xew Zealand Farmers' Union, stated that the. Farmers’ Union had made no claim in its statement presented to tile Guaranteed Price Committee to put forward any estimate of the cost of production of butter-fat. The position was that the union had tried to put forward estimates of the increasees of dairy farm costs on a pur lb of butter-fat basis from October 1, 1936, to June 1, 1937. The union had taken the latest authoritative figures available, the figures of the commission of 1934, and had worked on their costs as a base. The union, however, had expressly stated that it had taken the North Island average cost as shown by the Dairy Commission report, and consequently the increases were probably more than those stated. To use the words of the statement, .“The procedure which has been followed has been to take the North island costs shown in the Dairy Commission report, and to add to those the percentage increase which we have been able to ascertain (from comparisons oi the price lists and from personal knowledge) has taken place in the last year. This would appear to be a practical method for comparison, but as prices had risen from 1934 to October, 1936, the calculation must be conservative.'“It will be seen from this quotation that there was no intention of considering that the 1934 costs were identical with the costs of 1936, when flu* report was put forward,” said Mr O’.Shea. “Mr Nash endeavoured to convey to the deputation that the implication of our statement wa s that the Dairy Commission report on costs (4.093 d per lb of butter-fat) should have added to them .ood, which was our estimate of the increase in farm costs, and that the resulting figure would be our estimate of the present costs of production, it should be quite plain that if a' cost of production, figure is to be arrived at the 1934 figures should be brought into line with the 1936 prices, and an increase of .53d then added. It will also be seen that, had the Dairy Commission report figures been brought into line with the 1936 prices, the increase would have been greater.” it should be quite clear, therefore, that there was no question of the Farmers’ Uijion putting forward any figure for the cost per lb of. production of butter-fat, and further, that the figure of 4.64 d referred to bv Mr Nash had no, place in the Farmers’ Union statement, Air O’Shea concluded.