DROP IN EXPORTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24760, 7 December 1943, Page 2

DROP IN EXPORTS

FALLING PRODUCTION

PRIMARY INDUSTRIES

NEED TO CHECK TRENDS The falling output of the primary industries of New Zealand is attrac ing the attention of farming organisations throughout the Dominion. It is feared that if present trends are not checked New Zealand will not be in a position to meet her present obligations nor fulfil her rightful place in post-war food production. Representations from sections of agriculture are repeatedly being made to the Government but rural opinion is now advancing toward a combination of various farming interests into one organisation in order that the case of primary production in all its branches might be presented with a united front. The decline in herds, loss of fertilisers, shortage of labour, and difficult seasons have all combined to bring about a steady loss in dairy output. Between Julv 31, 1941, and July 31, 1943, butter-fat production in New Zealand fell by 21.119 per cent. I'or the first two months of the current sea- ; son the loss of butter-fat production went as high as 28 per cent in compari- | son with the opening two months of the ! previous season, placing a doubtful value upon early estimates of a fall of ; 10 to 15 per cent in Dominion producI tion for the current season. Loss of Cows I Even if the lower of these figures is accepted as most likely the decline in butter-fat production by the end of this season will have reached 31. per cent or nearly a third of the total quantity produced in 1940-41. A total of 90,000 cows was lost to the Dominion last year and in two months of the recent season 11,000 more bobby calves were killed than in the corresponding months of the previous season. Such losses cannot be placed solely at the door of seasonal influences. Even with butter rationing a continuance of the present conditions will make it difficult to meet output obligations apart from the financial loss the country is suffering. Farmers are emphatic that the Government has approached the butter question from the wrong angle in its efforts to fill its quota. The rationing of a commodity in a country which can produce it so freely is not facing the real problem. Production is being allowed to decline instead of encouragement being given to the farmers to produce more butter. Better market treatment would provide one stimulus toward this end. Cereal Crops Other phases of production are similarly slipping back. Official estimates of the wheat crop show that the 1943-44 harvest will be down by 14 per cent at 249,000 acres, while oats are expected to be lower by 9 per cent at 220.000 acres. The yield from the wheat crop, providing that the average of the past 10 years is maintained, is estimated at 7,850,000 bushels, a fall of 1.969,000 bushels on the harvest of the previous season. The area under barley shows an anticipated increase of 16 per cent to 41,000 acres, while potato plantings at 25.000 acres reveal a similar increase of 1140 acres, although a much greater increase was asked for. Fruit production is expected to be down, estimates showing that the Nelson apple crop alone will be 250,000 cases short of the previous season's total. The area of grasslands topdressed to January, 1943. showed a decrease of 17.6 per cent. Imports at High* Level While exports have declined high import figures have been a feature of the Dominion's external trade. For the year ended September the value of exports fell 19.7 per cent to £66.262.702. Over the same period imports showed an increase of 74.4 per cent to £90,317,584, the excess of imports for the period being £24.054.882. It is stated that the increase in imports Is mainly due to defence materials and equipment, and also lend-lease supplies. For the nine months of 1943 ended September the quantity of butter exported in comparison with the same period of 1912 showed a fall of 24 per cent. The quantity of cheese fell by 35 per cent, frozen beef by 44 per cent, frozen lamb by 16 per cent, mutton by 52 per cent, pork by 97 per cent, wool by 44 per cent and tallow by 25 per cent.