FARM COSTS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 142, 17 June 1936, Page 6

FARM COSTS

jyjli. li. O. MONTGOMERIE is making progress in his campaign for a better appreciation of what farm costs really arc. The export index number is an average, and as such it is also an approximation. Now that the on-farm costs are to be the subject of regulation by other than economic factors, it will become necessary to discover what on-farm costs really are, what are the costs of transportation from the farm to the main ports, and what are the cost of other services which the farmer must engage. For instance, what are the costs of medical attention fo the farmer in outback districts'! Medical costs are as much a part of farm costs as are posts and fencing wire. Ul-health is looked upon as a misfortune, but on the average the amount of medical costs could be worked out. While this subject is in the genesis stage, however, it should always be remembered that the value of statistics is a qualified one. The point about statistics is that they are never up to date. They never tell what the position is to-day, was yesterday or last week or last month. It is because the price system registers the present postion that the economics of supply and demand in a free market always have an advantage over a planned economy.