Evidence Required By Commission On Sheep Industry

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26541, 16 August 1947, Page 4

Evidence Required By Commission On Sheep Industry

The Farm

The duty of collecting evidence fox- presentation before the Royal Commission on the sheep industry falls, to no small extent, on farmers of Otago and Southland. Definite evidence will be required on the trend in carrying capacity on the various classes of land. The commission is bound to require details of the proportion of both dry stock and cattle carried now in comparison with pi-evious years, the return from cattle compared with that from sheep, and the possible effect of cattle in preventing erosion. Evidence is more important than opinion in the examination and farmers will require to concentrate on giving evidence on the particular problems affecting their areas, in addition to general evidence on the industry. Specific examples should be collected of land that has gone out of production over a period, and of land which has deteriorated in spite of “ book ” profits because of lack of maintenance.Low profit margin farms should be used’ in evidence and also examples of farms Where the cost of deferred maintenance (in form of deterioration ot farm buildings, fencing, machinery, etc.) has more than set-off the “ book ” profits. All such examples should be supported by accounts and personal evidence of the farmei's concerned. The labour position must be examined thoroughly. Examples will be needed of properties where deterioration has been so great as to discourage intending buyers. Mustering costs on the high country will be required and over-all evidence should be prepared to relate the sheepfarmer’s income to his returns. Trends in the various items of farm costs will, too, be of importance—longterm trends in particular. Similarly will changes in the percentages of net

income, as related to the capital involved, be required. Those changes will indicate the comparative position of farming and other industries. Definite evidence will also be required of the aggregate changes due to loss of fertility on representative properties. It will probably,,be necessary to establish that the increase in production on the more-easily worked land has marked the fall in the production on the poorer lands. Some evidence may be called on the suitability of different country, and also on the cost of the control of pests and scrub.