FARMING COSTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21291, 19 September 1932, Page 12

FARMING COSTS

Sir, —The majority of the statements made by your correspondent " Working Man ",in his letter on the price of milk are not worth any < serious criticism. Nevertheless, his antagonism to the man on the land is shared by a good many working people. Why, I do not know. It ■was inspired, I think, by certain leading members of the Labour Party who have never worked a farm, never seen a farmer's balance-sheet and yet are quite convinced that the primary producer is making money hand over fist at the expense of the wage earners. I am afraid " Working Man " would be hard put to it to explain how a milking machine is an extravagance when it costs about a third as much as the necessary labour for hand milking would cost. As the total mortgage liability on farm land is considerably less than the fall in the farmer's incomo, and as the drop in meat and wool does not allow any interest on capital at all, perhaps " Working Man " will explain how high-priced land is the trouble. On the average farm the interest bill is 30 per cent of the gross income, while the drop in prices. ranges from 40 to 60 per cent on 1928 values. Those who paid very high prices in the 1919-1920 land boom have either had their mortgages reduced or gone under long ago. In conclusion, I think it pertinent to ask "Working Man" why, if farming is such a sound proposition and he can produce butter-fat at 6d a pound (he can get the land for next to nothing), he remains an impoverished and down-trodden working man. Working Farmer*