NEW DAIRY PRICE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25514, 19 April 1944, Page 6

NEW DAIRY PRICE

FARMERS DISAPPOINTED DETAILS OF NEGOTIATIONS DISCLOSED (Special) AUCKLAND. Apl. 18. An increase of 1.99 d per lb in the price for butter-fat was the original figure arrived at by the Dairy Industry Council to present to the Economic Stabilisation Committee and the Government, said Mr A. J. Murdoch, M.P., a member of the Dairy Board, at a meeting of the South Auckland Dairy .Association at Hamilton. This figure was reduced by agreement between the council and the Stabilisation Committee to 1.47 d. against the final increase of 1.21 d per lb announced after negotiations by the council, committee, and Government. Mr Murdoch said he wanted to point out that the final price was not that of.the Dairy Industry Council. Mr. W. J. Harbutt: What was the increase of 1.21 d? Was it agreed or instructed? Mr Murdoch: It can be taken as an Instructed price. “ Breach of Undertaking ” “ I wish to dissociate myself from Mr Murdoch’s statement; which is a breach of the undertaking given by the council that the negotiations would not be divulged,” said Mr W. A. Marshall, chairman of the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company. Ltd., a member of the Stabilisation Committee and of the Dairy Industry Council, which had previously outlined effects of the recent negotiations. An offer to have his statement withheld from .publication was made by Mr Murdoch, but several members of the association contended that, as the council had represented the farmers, the latter should be apprised of the negotiations, and the statement was allowed to stand. The council should have adhered to an increase of 1.47 d per lb, said Mr Murdoch. As it was. the main portion of the increase decided on went into the pockets of the farm labourers. He did not wish to appear critical, but it was not the council’s scheme. He considered, however.'that the farmers should do all m their power to attain the increase required in production. Mr Nash’s Formula

The entire negotiations rested on the formula announced by tfie Minister of Finance. Mr W. Nash, in 1938. said Mr Marshall. The industry was -convinced that it was most unwise to deviate from that formula, he added, when he was asked if the council believed the formula was correct. It would be most dangerous for dairv farmers to allow their standards to be attacked, as they would run the risk of losing a lot more than they had gained. The figure of 1.99 d per lb increase mentioned bv Mr Murdoch was made on the basis of paying £5 5s a week for faun address before Mr Murdoch’s remarks Mr Marshall had emphasised that the industry had made no demands whatever during the negotiations Never before has there come, nor is there to come, to the dairy farmer, he said “ a call so clear, an appeal so strong, or a responsibility so great as m recent "Referring to impressions of the conference in Wellington regarding the wage increase to £4 17s 6d a week for tarm labour, including £1 a week for keep, which was a point that had. been obscure in the original announcement, Mr Marshall said he had hoped for a wage of £5 5s or £5, but even at £4 17s 6d it was one of the largest single increases in wages in any industry. Production Effort Pledge

/ While the decisions were not all the Industry would like, they represented a substantial reward, and would place the dairy farmer on a better footing than he had been on since the guaranteed price was introduced, said Mr Marshall. They warranted forgetting whatever disaffection or dissatisfaction might be felt. The decisions were an honest attempt to remove the most serious grievances. The following resolution was carried: "That this meeting expresses disappointment at the amount of the increased price to be paid dairy farmers next season, and notes that neither the Dairy Beard not the Dairy Industry Council is responsible for the fixation of this price. We nevertheless endorse wholeheartedly and pledge ourselves to assist in every way the present effort to increase the production of butter-fat to a minimum of 180,000 tons next season, representing an increase of approximately 10 per cent.” t