CANTERBURY BUDGET.

Otago Witness, Issue 4041, 25 August 1931, Page 16

CANTERBURY BUDGET.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) WHEAT AGREEMENT. CHRISTCHURCH, August 23. An announcement of considerable importance to wheat growers was made at a meeting held in Culverden this week by Mr W. W. Mulholland, chairman of directors of the Wheat Pool, when he outlined a scheme for the stabilisation of wheat prices for next season. He stated that an agreement had been entered into with the millers’ representatives under which the millers would agree to buy wheat at a price to be fixed by a certain definite basis of calculation, and to deduct a levy which would be paid into an equalisation fund to be used for dealing with any wheat in excess of requirements which could not be sold during the season. The millers had also agreed to pay into the fund any amount they received for bran and pollard in excess of, say, £4 10s a ton, while the growers on their part would agree to make up out of the levy any difference there may be if the prices of bran and pollard fell below £4 10s a ton. < The scheme would be controlled by a board consisting of an equal number of growers and millers, so that neither side would have a majority, and in the event of any differences of opinion an agreement would have to be reached by negotiation. The Wheat Pool would attend to all the administrative side of the work, and would be paid a certain sum for its services. Mr Mulholland made no secret about the seriousness of the position at present. The wheat industry, he said, was facing the possibility of disaster, and the point had been reached where they could not allow any’ consideration of differences that existed between the members of the pool and the “free” growers. He pointed out that with an increase in the acreage sown and an average yield of 32 bushels, there was reason to anticipate a surplus of 1.000,000 or 1.500,000 bushels. With the financial position not showing any signs of improvement, that possible state of affairs could be regarded only with considerable misapprehension, especially when they took into consideration the fact that wheat was almost worthless for shipment to England and elsewhere. Dealing with the question of the “ free ” grower, Mr Mulholland stated that he had not been regarded as , any different from the pool grower. They had regarded only the wheat grower, and any attempt to divide them would be most dangerous at this juncture. The growers had to be looked on as one body in considering the desperate position they" were faced with to-day.

ADDINGTON MARKET. With the forced accumulation of fat stock in the for a couple of weeks following the National market, it is the common thing for the market immediately succeeding it to become overloaded with supplies. It happened again this week at Addington, with the inevitable result that prices slipped back. A striking feature of the yardings, both in the fat cattle and fat sheep sections, was the general high standard of quality. With the fancy, lines that were penned at the National sale taken out, the two markets would not show a great deal of difference in th.is respect. North Island graziers again invaded the fat cattle pens, consignments on their account totalling 193 head, out of a yarding of 455. They were all steers, of fairly even weights, and with the assistance of several noticeable local lines, chiefly of cows and heifers, they helped to improve the general appearance of the offering. Coming on top of the heavy yardings at the two previous sales, however, there was too big a supply, and values suffered, the drop being from 25s to 30s a head for steer beef. Not a great deal of alteration was evident in the values of cow or heifer beef. Despite the weaker market, the sale was a fairly steady one throughout. and a good clearance was effected. Had it not been for the heavy influx of northern cattle, local graziers would no doubt have had a very satisfactory day. The prices that ruled on Wednesday for the outside steers would scarcely show a very’ profitable return after transport expenses were deducted, and it would not be surprising to see their numbers drop away during the next week or two. The net return would probably not equal that obtainable at some of the North Island markets, in spite of the lower prices ruling there. The best price of the day’ was £l4 12s 6d. which was secured by two vendors. A line of 19 polled Angus steers sold on account of a North Island grazier, Mr T. Saunders (Glen Orona), made from £l2 12s 6d to £l4 12s 6d. and a line of seven sent up by Mr A. Brosnahan (Sandown) sold at £ll 17s 6d to the same figure. Despite the drop in values, there were some good prices obtained in the fat sheep pens, particularly for __ wethers. The entry’ of 6150 was over 500 more than at the National Market, and as it was the third heavy yarding in succession, the weakening of the market was not "unexpected. At the sale prior to the double market there were 6000 penned, so that the average weekly’ supply over the last four weeks has been about 4400, apart altogether from the offering of hoggets, which have been fairly big. This, together with the heavy yardings of beef, has tested the absorptive capacity of the trade demand a little severely. Wethers, which were about 2s a head cheaper, suffered the most. Heavy ewes eased by about Is. For the lighter and medium ewes the difference was not so noticeable, and there were many cases where values held, largely’ as a result of the competition from the freezing works buyers, who confined their attention to these weights. There were ■ many pens of well-finished heavy wethers

offered, and the appearance of the lighter' sorts were noticeably even. Anything in good condition made over 15e. and the bulks of the entry exceeded this figure.The lowest price of the sale was 135,and this was recorded only in one in*’ stance. The market was topped by Mr' R. Houston (Allenton), who sold a very' eyen line of 54 at 20s 7d to 21s 7d. A big proportion of the ewe offering, which' represented about a third of the total yarding, made over 14s. which was the' ruling figure for a well-finished medium--weight sheep. The highest figure was 20s lOd, which was secured by Mr D.Gillanders (Darfield) for six out of a line of 52. Fifteen more made 20s Id,and the balance from 17s Id. 'These' were the only sales at over 20s, the nextbest price being 19s 4d, which was paidfor the pick of the line of- 94 penned by' Mr FL H. Johnston (Dunsandel). Those who were wanting to supplementtheir flocks for the lambing season were' fairly well catered for in the store sheep section at Addington this week. The' offering, which was much larger than hasbeen the case for many weeks, consisted chiefly of ewes, and the general appearance was a good deal above the average.Besides several pens of attractive-looking: younger ewes that would be serviceablefor another two or three or more seasons,there were many useful lines of farmers’’ ewee, carrying good fleeces and in quite good condition. A good many of the sheep were sold on behalf of farmers who 1 had purchased them before the winter with the idea of lambing them down, but who found that they had over-estimated their requirements, which is not a difficult thing to do. It was noticeable that a large number of purchases were confined to limited lots, generally round about a truck lot, which rather pointed to the fact that most of the buyers were only wanting to fill up ”to make use of a little extra feed. The demand, naturally, was restricted, and the sale throughout somewhat dragging, the result being that values were a little cheaper. The easing amounted to no more than Is 6d a head on the average. One pen that attracted a good deal of notice contained a line of four and sixtooth first cross Lincoln-merino ewes from the south. They were nicely-bred sheep, with the well-known Ben Ohatl merino strain in them, and a spell on turnips had put them in good fettle, and they looked a good buy at 18s Id, which was reached after protracted bidding. They were showing well in lamb to English Leicesters. The four-year sheep from the same property looked well worth the 15s 7d they made a little later in the day. A big proportion of the sound-mouthed sheep, and those described as sound-mouthed, ranged in value from about 10s to just over 12s. The appearance of some of them suggested that they were worth a little more.

There was one vendor who had every reason to be satisfied with the deal he made. For a line of ewes he paid lid each for before the winter, he secured 10s fid on Wednesday. At the time of the first purchase the sheep, which were four and six-tooth Lincoln-merino halfbreds, had just arrived from Blenheim, and were looking in rather sorry shape after 14 days on the road. They were mated with Romney rams, and after running on grass all winter their appearance had improved immensely. LINCOLN COLLEGE GRANTS. Advice was received at this week’s meeting of the Board of Governors of the Canterbury Agricultural College from the Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. A. J. Murdoch) that the department, in view of the severe financial stringency, regretted that no further money beyond the grant for extra staff salaries could be made available this year. Regarding the £lOOO for farm, buildings, it was hoped that the board would appreciate the position that necessitated the dropping of that grant for tlie time being, stated the Minister. When it was practically agreed that the sum of £5OOO, at the rate of £lOOO a. year, should be provided, the present economic situation could not have been foreseen. A position now existed under which such funds as were available had to be utilised for the most essential national requirements. Board members acknowledged the wisdom of the proposal to postpone further grants for farm buildings.