DAIRY INDUSTRY

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4606, 6 October 1934, Page 5

DAIRY INDUSTRY

FUTURE CONTROL. GOVERNMENT'S PROPOSALS. The establishment of a supreme body to control externally and internally the dairy produce industry of New Zealand will be the main proposal of the legislation the Government is to introduce towards the end of next week as part of a long range plan to rehabilitate the industry. This organisation will take the place of the Dairy Export Control Board, although it will retain the title of that body. Its personnel will vary in size and in character from the Dairy Board, and the system of election will be entirely different from the IDresent system. Instead of twelve representatives there will be eight, four of whom will represent the producers, and of the remainder, who will be Government appointees, two will be business men. It is expected that one of the Government's nominees will be the chairman. It is proposed to invest the board with complete control of the industry, and to empower it to develop extensively the marketing side, including the engagement of expert salesmen for personal canvassing and publicity in England. The board will have authority also to provide means of improving the quality of the New Zealand product, and in this connection it is anticipated that the existing grading regulations will be strengthened.

Doubts exist as to the extent to which the Government, in the pending legislation, will be prepared to assist financially dairy farmers who maintain their production. It is unlikely that the industry will be given the benefit of a direct subsidy, but Cabinet is said to have given close consideration to a finance plan involving the issue of bonds at a rate of interest not exceeding 3 per cent., the rate to be reviewed every three years by the Reserve Bank.