THE new Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS FRIDAY, MAY 16, 1911 PRODUCERS' PROBLEMS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23966, 16 May 1941, Page 8

THE new Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS FRIDAY, MAY 16, 1911 PRODUCERS' PROBLEMS

I In view of the uncertain prospect for the export trades in the coming season, producers are asking the Government for a statement of policy and as full information as possible on how the policy is to be applied in particular cases. Such.a statement is desirable, and indeed essential, if farmers are to set about the tasks of the new productive season with the energy born of confidence. They cannot do that at present because they are working in the dark. They want to know where they stand. It is for the Government to show all the light and direction that are within its power to supply." It cannot see all the way, but'it can give a lead and offer support on the lines that seem to offer the best solutions of current problems. A request for such firm guidance and assistance has come iout of the conference just held in | Wellington representing the whole i .of the export producing interests I and their marketing boards—all from the sheepowners to the -hobby calf pools. They are speaking with united voice for New Zealand's basic industry, on which everyone depends, and they should therefore be heard and fairly answered. Their plea for a policy and details of its applications have been placed before the acting-Prime Minister. Mr. Nash should be well suited, as he poses as the prince of planners. He it was who in 19155 wrote and spoke so glibly of sovereign remedies for deep depressive diseases. Necessity now calls on him to show how well he can plan in face of a real crisis.

In one important respect the Government has already stated its policy. It has undertaken that any loss suffered by producers owing to wartime market restrictions will be spread as equitably as possible over the whole community. The producers' conference appreciates the undertaking and accepts it. What they wish to know is how it is to be carried out in specific cases. The conference complains that, as it

.stands, the statement is too nebulous to enable fanners to make any practical productive plans. They want something they can bite on—something they can finance on and work on. The contention is eminently reasonable and businesslike. It demands a specific reply. Thus some sheepfarmers have been compelled to keep certain classes of ewe and wether mutton on the hoof. Howdoes the Government, propose to compensate them and to spread the loss? Other, farmers heard the Government's appeal to produce more bacon, and now find it is not wanted. How is their clear case to be met. 1 ? Or, again, the butter province of Auckland is asked to make a substantial switch-over to cheese. This will involve farmers and factories in expense for new plant and the idleness of much of the existing plant. The Government promises to assist, but before making the change farmers and factories require concrete assurance on the measure and the terms of State aid. Tfiey also require some guarantee that the necessary extra labour will be made available. They should be working on the new plans now, but, if the radical result desired is to be obtained, the producers must feel the ground firm I beneath their feet.

The same applies equally, of course, to proposals for the extension of the canning industries, whether meat, or fruit, or dairy produce is concerned. How are the new commitments to be financed and how is the necessary labour to be organised? More difficult questions have to be answered in advising farmers on the most desirable classes of production in the coming season. They have to be considered in relation to British preferences and needs, to the shipping outlook and the storage position. These factors should be measured and weighed as accurately as possible, in spite of the impossibility of arriving at more than intelligent estimates. The estimates will also have to bo checked and rechecked oh the' facts as the season develops. In the light of the results obtained, advice and direction should be regularly issued to farmers. They must not be left to drift : where informed guidance can be supplied. In some respects, lines are being defined. Cheese and linen flax and wheat and dried milk are to be preferred to butter and pigs. Is lamb to come before mutton, and is wool to rule over both? Should farmers be encouraged meanwhile to carry more stores and less fat and dairy stock 1 These are some of the "key policy decisions" for which the producers arc waiting, and on the wisdom of which the country's welfare will largely depend in the immediate future, ft is up to the Government, therefore, to define policies and state how they are to be applied,, so that the farmers need lose no more time in getting on with the new season's tasks.