DAIRYING IN THE SOUTH

Southland Times, Issue 23308, 18 September 1937, Page 14

DAIRYING IN THE SOUTH

Southland farmers are justly proud of the resources of their province, but they are not unmindful of the fact that climatic conditions call for a greater measure of efficiency in their operations compared with those located in similarly fertile North Island districts. It is on this account that the Southland rural dweller is likely to be penalized to a greater extent than his northern colleague under the new system of regimentation by the Government of the farming industries. The first move in this direction has been in the dairying industry in which the price for 6 airy produce has been fixed in accordance with the Government’s assumption of the level of efficiency which may be expected from the farmers. As the dairy production of Southland, or the whole of the South Island, is minute compared with the total production of New Zealand, it is unlikely that the special conditions prevailing in this province will be taken into very serious consideration by the authorities and the southern farmer is set a much more difficult task in fulfilling the evident requirements of the Government in return for an assured price which all sections of the industry in New Zealand agree is a bare minimum under the most favourable conditions. Before the institution of the guaranteed price southern farmers were able to overcome their disability to some extent by the manufacture of a superior article which usually commanded a premium and encouraged forward sales at prices rather more attractive than those obtainable for the great bulk of the output of New Zealand. Under the fixed price the Southland farmers are brought into line with those whose costs of production are definitely lower and here is exposed one of the major fallacies of a guaranteed price for an industry spread throughout the length of a country with a varying climate. It is not surprising that five small southern cheese factories have already been forced to close down, nor is it likely that the defection of the small factories will end there if the present conditions aie continued. Under modern farming practices farmers in the chief dairying districts of the North Island have overcome the necessity for the growing of special crops for the winter feed of their herds and hay or ensilage supplies all that is required during the short winter season. It is unlikely that southern farmers will find cultivation for root crops unnecessary under present methods if the herds are to be maintained in a reasonably good condition during the winter, so it is probable that a prominent southern dairy farmer was not exaggerating at a recent meeting when he claimed that the costs of winter dairy cows in Southland amounted to about threepence a pound butterfat more than in the North Island. This is a statement which reveals the seriousness of the position of the southern dairy farmer which should be continuously impressed on the authorities.