GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY.

Waikato Times, Volume 103, Issue 17407, 21 May 1928, Page 9

GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY.

FOR HERD TESTING. ASSOCIATION'S STATEMENT. The New Zealand Co-operative Herd Testing Association has handed us the following statement: — "The directors of the Association have carefully considered the question of the Government subsidy towards herd testing so far as this year is concerned. It should be remembered that the £B,OOO granted by the Government to assist herd-testing work throughout the Dominion was given for one vear only. The announcement was made after the majority of our members had been signed on for this season's testing, and no promise was made by the Directors as to how the subsidy, when received, would be dealt with. It has come to the notice of the Directors that in one particular district a testing officer led members to believe that the subsidy would be returned to members. This fact only came to the notice of the management within the last two months. In that particular district the General manager has held two group meetings at the latter part of April, at which the majority of the members of that particular group yver;j present. The question was then very fully discussed, and the members were unanimous in passing the resolution that the subsidy this year should go to the general funds of the Association. Most dairy farmers who are having their herds tested realise the difficulty the management have had in carrying on an efficient and complete system of herd testing within the . r >s per cow charge. It has only been possible through the financial help granted, indirectly at first, and directly during the. last two years, by the N. Z. Co-opera-tive Dairy Company. When the Association was formed to carry on the good work started by the Waikato Farmers' Union, the N. Z. Co-operative Dairy Company agreed to assist l:i placing the movement on a sound footing. Now that the Government subsidy has been granted, the Dairy Company have withdrawn their subsidy, and are giving nothing to the Association this year. The payment by the Dairy Company to the Association last year was £666 4s 3d. The Directors, after carefully going into the pros and cons, have decided that the subsidy this year should be placed to the general funds of the Association and so place the herd testing movement on a thoroughly sound footing. The balancesheet up to May 31, 1027, showed that £2,557 lis lid was then outstanding on the Plant Account. It is anticipated that the subsidy will probably liquidate this liability. The group herd-testing work has come to stay, and the opportunity that has presented itself should be availed of to put the movement in a healthy position. The Dominion Group Herd Testing Federation has already approached tho. Subsidy Allocation Board with the request that steps should be taken to have the subsidy continued for at least a further two years, and if a continuance of the subsidy is granted, the Directors of the New Zealand Cooperative Herd Testing Association have a recommendation to put forward at the annual meeting, for the consideration of its members, and their approval of the suggested terms for testing charges for next season. The General Manager is dealing very fully with this question at the Annual Group meetings which are now being held."