The Daily News MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 1934. PROFITABLE FARMING.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 January 1934, Page 6

The Daily News

MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 1934. PROFITABLE FARMING.

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An interesting discussion took place at Te Kuiti recently when the local branch of the Farmers’ Union discussed the question of whether farming on comparatively small holdings can be made' profitable to-day. The discussion arose through consideration of the control and eradication of noxious weeds. In the King Country, as in Taranaki, one of the principal difficulties in weed suppression is the unworked or partially used land on several holdings. Either for want of suitable stock, or the resources to enable improvements, such as draining and fencing, to be undertaken, or for other reasons, very many farms are too large for proper control by their present occupiers. The neglected areas thus become the breeding grounds of weeds that are a menace not only to the occupier' but to a whole district. It is not only in regard to noxious weeds that-the improvement of the land system is indicated. Naturally the first point to be considered in any rearrangement of settlement is whether farming for the “small man” is nowadays a profitable undertaking. One member of the King Country Farmers’ Union had no doubt on this point. He maintained that provided a settler was willing to work hard, and had the necessary experience or guidance to see that his work was well directed, there was no reason why small farms should not be made profitable even with the low prices ruling for dairy produce. The farmer who made this cheering statement had known what it was to “start from scratch” as a settler in New Zealand. He has a large family to maintain, and has experienced all the anxieties and difficulties which are inseparable from the breaking-in of new country to cultivated and pasture areas. The settler’s prescription for profitable farming was very simple—hard work, the avoidance of unnecessary expense on luxuries like cars and amusements, and the production of as many requirements as possible on the holding itself. He agreed that the cost of living and the costs of production were too high, but he maintained that so far as the farmer was concerned he could materially reduce costs of living if he would rely upon home production much more freely than is often the case. By doing so the farmer can certainly rely upon the “elimination of the middleman” for which there have been so many fervent appeals. To-day the farmer is beginning to realise that production is specialisation in one direction, and that it is possible that salesmanship and marketing are specialisation of a different order better left to those who make it their principal enterprise. That, however, is not the point emphasised so clearly at Te Kuiti, which was that the farmers can, if they will, do a good deal to counteract the “high cost of living” some are finding so oppressive, and that by so doing they are on the way towards making their farms profitable even with exports at a low value. It may be that dairy produce will appreciate in value, but it is fairly certain that there will be no return for many years, if ever, to the highly remunerative prices obtainable five years ago. When a settler realises this and still maintains that the future can be faced with equanimity his remarks are worthy of attention. The methods he adopts and urges others to adopt are no new experiment. They were applied by the pioneers because they had either to produce the food they required or go without. There is no need to prescribe such Spartan-like treatment for the return of profitable farming provided the principle of producing as many requirements as possible on his own holding is adopted thoroughly by the settler. Many of the most successful farmers in this province have always acted on that principle. -On the other hand, there are many who do not, and who devote all their time and energy to one class of production only. The consequence is that when prices for this product fall they cannot bring down costs of production in anything like the same ratio if they have to purchase every requirement of the home and farm from others. To alter this, to rely upon farm production will undoubtedly add to the scope of the settler’s duties, but the return will more than justify the extra effort if any is necessary. It is not necessary to emphasise the injunction that profitable farming

means hard work. It always has, and, speaking generally, no one takes up farming as an occupation who does not accept hard work as part of the bargain. Occasional hard thinking is also necessary, however, to ensure that work is well directed, and it is in that regard that farmers’ organisations are doing such excellent work. Holdings of suitable size for the settlers capacity, elimination of unnecessary expense, reliance upon home production and the reduction thereby of costs of production; these conditions fulfilled, says a settler of experience, there need be no pessimism in regard to farming in New Zealand.