THE PRICE OF MILK

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21909, 22 March 1933, Page 4

THE PRICE OF MILK

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,- —While quite agreeing with all that your correspondent, “ Live and Let Live,” has written about the milk men and not the milk men alone but the dairy farmers —forming societies to protect themselves against this unscrupulous price cutting which has assumed the form of an epidemic at the present time in the milk trade in Dunedin, I would say that it is just about time now that the dairy farmers who supply the milk supply concerns, and also those dairy farmers who have their own milk rounds, did something with a view to obtaining a reasonable price for their milk. We all know that the new company at -Caversham has been responsible for the cutting of the price of milk to 3d per. quart. Although it did not advertise milk at this price, nevertheless canvassers scoured all parts of the city in the endeavour to get customers to take milk at this reduced price, viz.> 3d per quart. Then the. oldest and largest milk supply company in. our city notified' that it was selling milk at 3d per quart from the beginning of. this month. Naturally, the other established companies had no other option than to follow suit. Then the dairy farmer, too, had either to cut the price or lose some customers. Of course, .there are customers of the same frame of mind as “ Live and Let Live,” who see that the poor milkman is struggling for. an existence even at 4d per quart. It is a great pity that there were not more people, in our city like your correspondent ‘ Live and Let Live.” If there were the milkman would have a much more pleasant job, and would be sure of getting paid for what milk he sold. As it is now the milkmen are lucky if they get paid for 75 per cent, of what they deliver. Now, surely the time has come when the dairy farmers who are producing milk for town supply—whether they have their own rounds or sell to the milk companies, or sell to the hawker of milk —should units together and. come to. an agreement not to sell the milk they produce under.a certain payable price. Of course, an allowance must be made for the depression. But, even so, no man can produce milk (especially in the winter time, and the coming winter is likely to be a hard one on account of all this dry weather) under at least lOd per gallon. This fact is apparently not taken into consideration by the managers of the milk companies. ~ As your • correspondent Interested wrote, farmers have the power to keep themselves, wives, and faniilies from being trampled into the mud if they will pick up enough courage to form a genuine milk producers’ society and use every means at their command as a united party to obtain a living wage for their hard work and long hours of drudgery seven days a week. If necessary, they should refrain from sending, or allowing to be sent, any milk into the city until they get a reasonable price for their product. Surely if this matter of the Qriceofmilk were brought before the Minister of Agriculture, or whoever has to, deal with it, something would be done to keep the dairy farmer from being dragged under. Your renders will see that the milk companies always require about one-quarter to one-half as much for delivery as ,they actually pay the down-trodden supplier. — I am, etc.. NOT INTERESTED. March 21.