A HERD-TESTING SUBSIDY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19698, 26 July 1927, Page 8

A HERD-TESTING SUBSIDY.

The Government's decision to make a grant of £BOOO toward the cost of herd-testing will be extremely gratifying to the advocates of the system who have for so long pleaded in vain for some such practical encouragement of their efforts. They have been able to demonstrate by positive results that herd-test-ing is a valuable factor in the establishment of more scientific methods in dairying, and both in theory and practice their claim for State assistance rests on sound arguments. Briefly, the case for such a subsidy as the Government has now promised, justifiably anticipating Parliament's honouring of its undertaking, is that ten years of systematic testing and improvement of herds would increase the output of the industry by £5,000,000 a year. The achievement of that objective is obviously of sufficient national importance to warrant a national contribution. No indication has been given by the Minister of Agriculture of any conditions attaching to the grant. The Government apparently proposes to await proposals from the board which is to be appointed to administer the fund. Yet there must be a precise understanding of the purposes to which the subsidy js to be devoted and as to the period for which it is to be continued. The associations have always asked for a grant of Is toward the cost of 5s for testing a cow ; £BOOO would probably be more than sufficient at that rate for the coming season, though universal testing would run into £65,000. There is probably no more effective application of the grant than as a contribution in direct proportion to the number of cows tested, but the primary purpose should not be merely to reduce the cost to individual farmers, but to make the merits of the system more widely known and its practice more popular and widespread. To some extent, the associations' acceptance of a subsidy would seem to involve their undertaking a more rigorous supervision of cows which fail to satisfy their standards. A State subsidy must be devoted to the interests of the industry as a whole, and cows condemned by its aid as unprofitable should not be sold without visible identification as 'culls. Moreover, a reasonable time limit should be adopted for the operation of the subsidy, so that it may be terminated without question when the benefits of the system are being derived by dairy farmers in enhanced prosperity.