THE DAIRY FARMER.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 234, 31 August 1940, Page 12

THE DAIRY FARMER.

PROBLEMS SET OUT. The problems confronting dairy farmers formed the subject of an address given to the Citizens’ Lunch Club yesterday by Mr W. S. Carter. Among the difficulties which faced the farmer, he said, were such factors as long hours of work, high costs and a lack of appreciation of his position by the Government. Mr Carter said the dairy farmer had to work, no matter what the weather was, on seven days a week, and from 65 to 75 hours. His occupation was even described as unskilled, but the dairy farmer had to be, for instance, something of a doctor or a surgeon, and had to be able to deal with Nature generally. There were 879 diseases which the cow was liable to contract. The carpenter, engineer, and blacksmith were, classed as skilled workers, but the dairy farmer had to have quite as much skill in his occupation as they had. He also required a knowledge of general farming and cropping. If paid on the same basis as the other workers, the speaker had mentioned, the dairy farmer would receive anything from £8 to £l2 or £ls a week. In employing labour the dairy’ farmer had to provide board for single nmo, Mr Carter proceeded. Contrary to the accepted idea, the farm worker was not badly treated, it being the speaker’s experience that the men were usually very well looked after indeed. The dairy farmer had thus to turn his wife into a boarding-house keeper so that he could employ men. A great deal was heard of what the Government was doing for the dairy farmer. Thousands of houses were being built in towns for the working classes, but farming was the key industry in New Zealand. If the Government built the houses in the country' so that married couples could be sent to the farms it would lay the foundation for future prosperity. One of the great difficulties of farming to-day was the lack of accommodation for married labour, and it was remarkable that this question had not been taken more notice of in the past. The Home Government wanted mpre cheese and bacon and the New Zea'and Government had promised financial assistance for the change by farmers from butter. *to cheese supply. The position, it now appeared, was that if a farmer could borrow from any financial source at all he was debarred from getting money from the Government under its financial scheme. I‘ he was so impecunious that he could not get money from any other source his case would then be considered by the Government. The restrictions on the rural housing scheme were such as to make it almost completely valueless. Only about one farmer in 50 would get any benefit from it. The solution of the dairy farmers’ trials were simple—more simple than it at first appeared. Afore houses were required in the country, where there .were not sufficient buildings, but be would not put all the blame for that on the Government. Equality of sacrifice was needed. The farmers’ difficulty was that they were on a fixed price but not on fixed costs. He rvould not say that their life was all trouble and trials, and if more went in for dairy farming on proper lines many of them would be much happier than they now were. The speaker was accorded a vote of thanks on the motion of Air W. J. Crouclier.