BOBBY CALF TRADE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23442, 5 March 1938, Page 10

BOBBY CALF TRADE

PLAN FOR ORGANISATION NATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE SYSTEM SUBMITTED TO DAIRY FARMERS (Per United Press Association) WELLINGTON, Mar. 4. An interesting statement ekting to the organisation of the bobby calf trade was made by the Minister of Finance (Mr W. Nash) to-night. "Arising out of a resolution passed at a recent Dominion conference of the New Zealand Dairy Board." Mr Nash said, "I convened a meeting of representatives of the Government, the New Zealand Dairy Board, the New Zealand Farmers' Union, and the New Zealand Co-operative Pig Marketing Association to consider and recommend to me a plan for the better organisation of the bobby calf trade. I informed the committee that before submitting any plan to the Cabinet for consideration. I would require to be satisfied that the opinion of the dairying industry was substantially in favour of its adoption The committee advised me that, though in the past the competitive system had led to prices being paid that were sometimes in excess of the real value of the product, this consideration was outweighed by the advantages of a more orderly system that would return to the farmers a true market value and would effect considerable savings in transport and other costs. The committee at the conclusion of its discussions recommended a plan as follows: " The New Zealand Dairy Board should be empowered to organise a national co-operative system of local pools for ,the collection and disposal of bobby calves and all bobby calf products. The powers which would be required are to define the local pool areas, to organise management committees in the poolareas, to supervise and control the operations of pool committees arranging the collection and trans- - port services and in the disposal of calves and all calf-products to the best advantage of the producers within the individual pool areas, to recommend the making of such levies as may be required to meet the costs of administering the plan and to have such other powers as may be necessary to give full effect to the plan. * t "The committee considered that, if this plan were adopted, the pool committees would act in their own districts as agents of the board and would assume full responsibility for the operations of their pools The New Zealand Dairy Board would ip practice intervene only if a condition of emergency arose, when it would be in a position to assume full control of the operations of any pool. If the plan is endorsed by the dairying industry and approved by the Cabinet, the method by which the necessary authority would be vested in the New Zealand Dairy Board would be by delegation af powers under the Primary Products Marketing Act, 1936."

In writing to dairy factories on the subject, Mr Nash said; " I would appreciate it if* you would submit the contents of this letter for the urgent consideration of a special meeting or meetings of suppliers of your company. The opinion of the meeting or meetings should be taken on a motion to adopt the resolution attached, and the result should be conveyed to me, with a statement of the numbers voting for and against, under certificate of the chairman of the meeting. All meetings should be called at once, so as to enable action to be taken immediately the views of the industry are known. In any case, the resolution and details of the voting should reach me not later than March 31. "In the event of it being found impossible to arrange for the holding of meetings which all your suppliers can conveniently attend, it will be sufficient," said Mr Nash, " if each company sends to its suppliers a ballot paper in terms of the attached resolution and certify to, me over the signature of the chairman and secretary the result of the voting." Accompanying the letter from the Minister is a ballot paper, conveying the text of the resolution on which suppliers have been asked to vote. The Minister said that the decision of the farmers was required with some urgency, because if the voting is in favour of the proposal the Dairy Board would immediately require to complete its organisation to enable the plan to operate during the coming season.