PRIMARY PRODUCTION PLAN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23880, 3 February 1941, Page 6

PRIMARY PRODUCTION PLAN

An encouraging start has been made by the new Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Barclay, in the discharge of his official duties. Too often since the outbreak of war appeals for increased production have been addressed to farmers in the vaguest and most general terms ; ! too seldom have definite objectives been set and the farmers encouraged to work to them. Mr. Barclay, in his recent addresses in the Nelson district, has shown a welcome disposition to take the farmers into his confidence and to give them a reasonable indication of wartime requirements. The primary production plan which the Minister has outlined is shaped in accordance with Britain's needs, and the farmers now have it on firm authority that the classes of produce most urgently required are bacon and cheese. In addition, Mr. Barclay very wisely stresses the necessity of growing ample crops to provide feed for stock. This is especially desirable in the case of pig feed, but another equally compelling reason for increased crop cultivation is provided by the shortage of refrigerated shipping space which may eventually force meat producers to delay killings. If Mr. Barclay continues in the way in which he has started, and breaks down the barrier of reticence established by Mr. Nash, he will probably find the farmers as a whole much easier to work with. The producers, for their part, have already shown their ability and readiness to respond to a lead when it is properly given.