DAIRY ZONING SCHEME

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19137, 5 October 1936, Page 9

DAIRY ZONING SCHEME

GISBORNE APPLICATION CONFERENCE DISCUSSION AN INQUIRY ASKED FOR The conference of representative?, ol Gisborne, Last Coast and Wairoa dairy factories held in Gisborne on .Saturday passed a motion favouring an-immediate zoning scheme. Four of the companies represented voted in favour ol'the motion and one against if. Earlier in the meeting. Mr. A. J. Murdoch, chairman of the Dairy Board, bad referred to the. matter of zoning, and said that while in the past anything done in this> respect was on a voluntary basis, the Commission of Agriculture now had power to enforce zoning, but ho did not anticipate that this would be done except in extreme cases* Mr. A. C. Fox, representing the Ngatiporou Co-operative Dairy Company, Limited, moved a recommendation to the Dairy Board Unit it should make representations to the Primary Produce Department to bring into immediate operation the dairy regulations of insofar as they affected the suppliers of factories represented at the meeting. Speaking to his motion, Mr. Pox said that another factory brought, cream past both the Ngatiporou and Tolaga Bay factories, and gave room for disgruntled suppliers to . ask preferential treatment, on the threat of breaking away. FREEDOM OF DECISION

Mr. J. P. Guthrie, Tolaga Bay. seconded the motion, and endorsed the mover's remarks concerning overlapping. His company, he said, had suffered a loss in supply by what he termed ''pirating" of supplies. Mr. E. P. Renner, chairman of the Okitu Co-operative Dairy Company. Limited, moved an amendment that there should be no further interference by the Government with the dairy industry. Otherwise, he said, the farmer would become nothing but a serf. He felt that the motion was nothing more than a move in an endeavour to secure monopolies. His company had stood for the freedom of the individual farmers to make their own decisions, and he believed that the two companies concerned were "getting the wind up" unnecessarily. Mr. Harry Cooper seconded the amendment. Mr. Murdoch said that the power to control the zoning was already on the Statute Book. Mr. Renner then agreed to withdraw his amendment. Mr. 11. D. deLutour. Wairoa Cooperative Daiiy Company, Limited, said that the Wairoa company was not so affected as those on the Coast, although

other lorries ran to within 20 miles of the Wairoa factory, travelling over about 50 miles of barren country. .Mr. Tod: Oh, no. Mr. deLautour said that at least it was hill country from sea coast, to sea coast. If suppliers were permitted to leave their companies it would be difficult to enforce the grading system. His company had not tried to retain a supplier against his will. A PAST AGREEMENT Mr. M. Doyle, chairman of the Kia Ora company, said thai so far as his company was concerned, it had agreed upon a line of demarcation with the adjacent' factories, and tho arrangement, worked quite well. When Kia Ora entered into an arrangement with the Okitu company for the employment of a farm dairy instructor, there was no suggestion of the field of operations becoming so wide, and did not expect that the instructor would have to travel so far, adding to the expense. "The sooner the commission comes and sits in Gisborne the better," Mr. Doyle

added. -Mr. Renner moved a new amendment that no action be taken in zoning as it was not in the best interests of producers. Mr. Murdoch ruled that that was a direct negative. Mr. Charles Cooper said that if a supplier found it payable to send his cream elsewhere, ho saw no reason why this should not bo allowed. CARRIAGE OF CREAM

At this point, Mr. W. J. Lee, Government dairy grader and instructor, rose and addressed a few words to Ihe meeting. He said that in his position he, must remain neutral. Some remarks made at the

annual meeting of the Okilu company's meeting had been misinterpreted by the press, and he said that lie had endeavoured in his remarks merely to analyse the cream which came from the various areas.

He said he had pointed out that local cream from the flats was of exceptionally good quality. Of other cream, a proportion opened up good after long carriage, but a proportion that did not had a detrimental effect upon the rest. During further discussion, Mr. Murdoch said that if the Produce Department intended bringing in a system of zoning in the district, each company would be given full knowledge of time and place so that it would be in a position to prepare its case. Each case would be judged on its merits.

Mr. W. S. Black, Okitu, moved an amendment that the commission should defer its deliberations on the East Coast until 1938.

The amendment was*secondod by Mr. T. R. Jones, but was defeated,.only one company's vote being registered in its favour. The motion urging immediate application of the dairy regulations was carried bv four votes to one.