MEAT AND WOOL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23859, 13 July 1939, Page 7

MEAT AND WOOL

A GUARANTEED PRICE NOT FAVOURED BY FARMERS UNION CONFERENCE DISCUSSION (Per United Press Association) WELLINGTON, July 12. The annual conference of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union in Welling ton to-day decided it did not favoui a guaranteed price for meat and wool as a cure for the position in which the farmers found themselves to-day. There were only a few dissentients. An amendment —“ That conference does not favour the guaranteed price as at present operated for dairy produce under the formula contained in the Primary Products Marketing Act”— was lost. Mr J. Soler (Auckland) said the motion asked the small sheep farmer to close the door to any suggestion of th-j guaranteed price. The Prime Minister had been criticised for not stating what price the Government was prepared to give, but what had the union don) other than to suggest freeing the exchange? His district would fight to the last ditch rather than give control to the State, but were they wise to turn down the guaranteed price? Importance of Public Opinion

Mr A, B. Moore (North Auckland) said in considering whether they should turn down the guaranteed price the reaction of public opinion should be ’ taken into account. The public was not informed on the technical aspects of sheep farming, and would want, to know.the.reasons for refusal. The amendment was preferable to the motion, said Mr H. O'. Melisop (Auckland). A number of small farmers favoured the guaranteed price, provided it was on the basis of a minimum price about covering the cost of production.

At the biggest meeting of farmers within memory at Wanganui only 24 of 460 favoured the guaranteed price, said Mr T. Currie (Wanganui), Union and noh-union members alike attended. He had averaged his wool prices over 10 years at 9.06 d a pound, and at the January sale this year it had brought 9.6d.‘ Therefore, oh a guaranteed price of the average value for 10 years the farmer would be down Mr; D. H. Cockburn (Southland) said support of the amendment would be tantamount to saying that the farmers were prepared to consider the guaranteed price on some other basis. Indefinite Replies

The president vMr „W. W.Mulholland) said .the Government , had been given the Opportunity to state. its policy on the matter, .He had personally made this request, to Mr Savage, and branches had written to Mr Savage and had received indefinite replies. There had been a tendency to discuss the question as though the guaranteed price meant an increase in price, and a further tendency had been to assume that the guaranteed price would be essentially higher' than the . market value. '■■

There was no ground for this assumption. < The' formula under the Primary Produce; Marketing Act, Mr Mulholiand said, applied only to dairy produce. The Minister of Marketing (Mr Nash) had stated that,the marketing account was the first consideration in fixing'the guaranteed price for dairy produce. - This meant there could be little departure from the realisatoin. There had been no indication in any Government statement (hat the sheep farmers’ returns would pe increased above the market level. Could this be done? So far as the guaranteed price was concerned, it simply could not be. If they were going to get the guaranteed price from any other source it had to come from the , taxpayers. This meant rising costs. They should pass the motion as it was rather than temper it on the lines of the amendment., Effect on Back-country Men Having regard to the Government’s policy of economic self-efficiency, the guaranteed price would be an excuse for it to throw a lot of back-country land out of production," said Mr R. O Montgomerie (Wanganui). There would be a tendency for. the Government to base the costs of production on those of the better-class land., This would put the back-country man in a bad position and throw millions of acres out of production. If there were a guaranteed price for wool and meat, v/ho was going to guarantee it? asked Mr J. J. Maher (Upper Hutt). Only the primary producers could guarantee anything in this country. The dairy industry was already on the guaranteed price and another iiuch price would mean the employment of, a fresh army of civil servants—-another growth of barnacles on primary production. If meat and wOol were handed over to the Government it would be asking for the full socialisation of primary production. Mr A. C. Cauldron (Otago) said the farmers did not want a guaranteed price for meat and wool. Some other way out of their difficulties must be found. .... Another, delegate said that a section of small farmers believed that the union did not favour the guaranteed price because ,of the large sheep farmers. This was not so, but if the amendment was defeated it would give these small farmers an excuse for adhering to their opinion.