SHIPMENT OF PRODUCE

Waikato Times, Volume 129, Issue 21486, 30 July 1941, Page 6

SHIPMENT OF PRODUCE

DIFFICULTIES APPRECIATED “We as dairy farmers were requested by the Government to increase production to the fullest possible extent,” said Mr R. A. Candy, chairman of the Auckland Herd Improvement Association, at the annual meeting yesterday. “This we have done, and today the story is different. We are asked to provide 160,000 tons of cheese for Great Bri- | tain, and it is hoped to provide an j additional 45,000 tons, though this means decreasing butter output by 20,000 to 25,000 tons. Even with this reduction there is a fear that, with a normal season, butter production will probably be nearly 40,000 tons more than we are likely to be able to ship overseas. It is obvious that the Government does not want increased dairy produce as a whole.” Mr Candy said it would be realised that with the people on rations Britain could do with all New Zealand could produce. Shipping space was a great difficulty, and New Zealand farmers were not complaining if Britain were able to get from the United States or South America much produce that she would normally have taken from the Dominion, if in the process Britain could get two or three trips from boats that would do only one trip travelling half-way round the world. “We do not blame Governments for the position that has arisen,” said the chairman, “provided the farmers are treated equitably with other sections in any national dislocation or disaster, but it does behove us to take a careful look at things, and plan our farming operations in the light of the facts as we know them.”