DEPRESSING OUTLOOK

Waipawa Mail, Volume LII, Issue 44, 24 December 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

DEPRESSING OUTLOOK

FARMING IN AUSTRALIA INVERCARGILL MAN’S IMPRESSIONS Some indication of the unfortunate times through which the Australian farmers are passing was conveyed to a reporter by Mr J. W. P. Vickery, of Invercargill, who returned from the Commonwealth at the beginning of the week alter his regular visit to buy fat iambs tor freezing on behalf of Messrs Sims, Cooper, Ltd. “Land is still far too high and it is valued at only about hull of what it was twelve months ago," he said, lie quoted the instance of a man who owned £70,000 worth of land. The economic position was so bad that the lessees could not pay their rent and the land had become a liability instead of an asset, as the owner still hud to pay his rates and taxes. No good could come out of putting the present tenants off the property, as he would have to have someone on the land to keep it in good order. Another 'case was that of a man who four years before had bought 1000 acres of land at £l4 an acre. The seasons had been so poor since that all his crops had been a failure and he had received no revenue from the property. “Generally speaking, they have had a wonderful good lamb season in Australia.” continued Mr Vickery. The chief feature, however, was that as a result of appeals by the Government,’ the farmers in Victoria had reduced their flocks to a quarter of what they had been before in order to grow wheat. Three parts of the land was now in wheat, and at present prices the grain would return no more than the bare cost of sowing and harvesting. At the beginning of the season there had been indications of a drought, but there had been plenty of ruin since September and 90 per cent, of the‘crops which had been threatened with ruin had been saved.

There was an abundance of feed throughout Victoria and there were tons of grass to spare. Prices for stock were very low, ranging from 12s to 14s for fat lambs for freezing, 7s to 10s for freezing ewes and Us to 12s for wethers. The exports of frozen lamb and mutton, however, wero small in comparison to New Zealand’s and only amounted to a quarter of the Dominion’s exports, despite the fact that the population here was much smaller.