Plenty Of Flour, No Use In Prices

Northern Advocate, 10 March 1948, Page 4

Plenty Of Flour, No Use In Prices

DUNEDIN. Wed. (P.A.).—“The full requirements of wheat for Hour have been taken care of. and unless unforeseen disaster overtakes the shippingprogramme there is no possibility of rationing of Hour or bread in New Zealand.” said the general manager of the Wheat Committee (Mr R. McPherson) in reply to inquiries yesterday. "There is at present no likelihood of an increase in the domestic prices of flour and bread, as the increase in wheat prices will be taken care of by way of subsidy ” To date this year 42,000 tons of Australian wheat had either arrived in Mew Zealand or was on the water, Mr McPherson said. Arrangements had been made for regular shipments throughout the year. Flour consumption in New Zealand was 170.000 tons a year, which was higher than normal because flour had to take the place today of rice, sago, tapioca and other lines in short supply which wore used for puddings and sweets. OLD EXTRACTION RATE

At the old rate of extraction (72 per cent) approximately 461 bushels of wheat were required to make one ton of flour, thus absorbing 7,905.000 bushels.

At the present extraction rate of 80 per cent. 42 bushels were required for one ton of flour, absorbing 7,104,000 bushels.

Flour of 80 per cent extraction, therefore, resulted in a saving of more than 750,000 bushels of wheat a year. While the 80 per cent extraction gave a flour which called for greater skill on the part of the baker to make an attractive loaf, all health authorities claimed that this flour and the loaf made from it, containing most of the B 1 vitamin in the. wheat berry, were of higher food value than white flour of 72 per cent extraction. "Although New Zealand is not the only country in the world using wheat for poultry feed, the Dominion is the only importing country doing so.” Mr McPherson replied to another question. DAMAGED GRAIN “The International Emergency Food Council objects to this, but at present Australia has large quantities of damaged wheat unsuitable for milling but suitable for feed and it is this wheat which will be imported by New Zealand this year for poultry. "Our poultry requirements are 3,500,000 bushels, and it should be noted that our poultry industry has always been dependent on imported feed.”

New Zealand’s contract price with Australia for this year had been 5/9 .a bushel f.o.b. Australian ports, sacks extra, and was fixed when the Australian home consumption price and the guaranteed price to growers was 5/2, Mr McPherson said. Australia had recently raised the home consumption price and the guaranteed price to growers from 5/2 to 6/3 a bushel f.o.b. ports, so the New Zealand Government offered to modify its contract from January 19 this year to 6/4 a bushel, f.0.b., which was the equivalent of the Australian guaranteed price to growers. This decision had been announced recently by the Minister of Supply, Mr Nordmeyer. TASMAN FREIGHTS Within the last month or two Tasman freights had advanced sharply, and it now cost an average of 1/10 a bushel to bring ’wheat from Australia. Accordingly, the present landed cost of Australian wheat had risen to 8/2 a bushel c.i.f.e.. sacks extra, compared with 7/1 a bushel c.i.f.e., sacks extra (5/9. plus 1/4 freight), which ruled last year. “It should not be forgotten that New Zealand for very many years always imported wheat and/or flour and poultry feed,” Mr McPherson added.

“To make New Zealand self-sup-porting in wheat would require at least 350,000 acres a year, and under our present system of farming it would seem that such an annual acreage in wheat would be impossible without adversely affecting our other primary production. “It is this policy which has focussed attention on wheat imports, because imports of flour previously went unnoticed.”