Hay-pressing Charges In Feilding District

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 153, 1 July 1939, Page 3

Hay-pressing Charges In Feilding District

FARMERS REPORT That the hay-pressing charges in the Feilding district are not uniform and not always in accordance with the award was stated to be the case at yesterday's meeting of the Feilding branch of the Farmers’ Union. Reporting on the complaint of a Kiwitea farmer, the secretary (Mr. C. V. Jewell) stated that he had investigated this case and it had been ascertained that the charges were in order. During the discussion other speakers gave instances of the charges they had to pay and it was disclosed that there verc variations which indicated that all ngaged in the occupation were not folowing the scale of charges fixed in the award.

A letter w r as received from a Wairoa farmer who wrote in connection with the complaint of the Kiwitea farmer. He stated that in his district hay-press-ing was charged for at the rate of £1 per ton of 30 bales, which represented 8d per bale, and that there was a certain amount of co-operation between the farmer and the workers engaged in the pressing. It was stated that in the Feilding district the charge varied from 8£ to 10J per bale for pressing, depending on whether the pressing was done from the stack or from the lield.

The opinion was held that farmers should watch the position, since it was apparent that some of those engaged in the work were prepared to accept less than others.