FOOD FOR WAR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 85, 12 April 1940, Page 3

FOOD FOR WAR

i INCREASED PRODUCTION NEW ZEALAND FARMING I DIRECTOR DETAILS PROBLEMS I I AUCKLAND. April 9. Problems facing the National Coun- ' cil of Primary Production in its war! effort of maintaining farm production ! 1 and increasing it. wherever possible , were outlined by Mr. R. B. Tennent, director of primary production, in addressing a meeting of the Auckland District. Council of Primary Produci tion yesterday. He said there were three main avenues of production I awaiting exploitation greater pig , killings, more butter-fat production ‘ and heavier wool clips. ‘‘The war is not running to! 'schedule,” said Mr. Tennent, “and consequently our original programme 1 of development has been affected in i some measure. There has not been the I big drain on foodstuffs in Britain that 1 was expected, which has made our job I a little bit easier. Nevertheless, we i have had to concentrate on increasing I our production.’’ • Opening New Areas Mr. Tennent said New Zealand could i best achieve the desired results by concentrating her effort on farmers! already farming. They were trained ; in the essentials of the job, he said. I and had the capacity for advancing i production. Farmers should be encouraged to improve their methods, as there was always room for improvement to attain maximum production. “We have considered breaking in large areas of unproductive land by ; the most rapid means,” continued Mr. Tennent. "However, we feel that, to ; maintain production, existing farmers must help. New country may be extremely costly to farm, and when it is ultimately brought in it may not have ■ the desired result of raising production very materially.” The Labour Problem Referring to a labour survey con-1 ducted by the council last year, Mr. Tennent said, the shortage generally ‘ proclaimed throughout the country | d’id not exist to the extent stated. I Farming did not suffer from any labour shortage last season, but the; future position was likely to be differ- : ent. Over 3000 men from farms had : enlisted, and, while there would be many replacements from youths leaving school, some of the essential ! workers would be difficult to replace. , “A number of these men are to be • found employed by the Public Works Department, and the department and I the Government are anxious that they I should be given every inducement to return to the land,’* continued Mr.

Tennent. “One of the biggest drawbt.< is the housing conditions on farms. There is a scheme for financing rural housing, but it does not go far enough. To be effective, it would be necessary to provide a maximum number of houses on farms at the cheapest rates in the shortest time. The council has put recommendations before the Government, which is at present further developing the scheme, hoping to attract men back to the farm." Hours of Work Mr. Tennent said he did not believe labour to be an insurmountable difficulty. There was a tendency to develop the family unit on the farm, and that he held to be the most efficient. He agreed that, given good conditions and a good house, the farm labourer was not deeply concerned about working over five days a week, and eight hours a day. Urging greater pig production, Mr. Tennent said killings had declined considerably in the past three years, in spite of barley prices being the cheapest in the country’s history. He recommended farmers to save more heifer calves to build up dairy production, and he added that no heed should be taken of loose talk regarding the danger of over-production in wool. “These are common-sense lines for advancing production,” he said.