The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9, 1939. THE NEW DAIRY SEASON

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 47, 9 August 1939, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9, 1939. THE NEW DAIRY SEASON

WITH approach of spring, the prospects of the new Dairy Season form a topic of conversation which holds a common interest for New Zealanders in every call of life. Never before has it been brought home to the Dominion how inseparable from its own prosperity is the welfare and the well-being; of the dairy farmer. Upon this individual depends the success or otherwise of the country's high standard of living and the possibility of stftl further improving that standard. In view of this now widely accepted fact, it is interesting to qut!te the general attitude of the farmer as he regards the dairy season ahead. He is influenced in many cases by the rising tide of costs, and in this respect utilises his time honoured privilege to 'tell the world' about it. Another influence on the industry's morale has been a second seaison of declining production. In 1937-38 the decrease was per qent and last season over 10 per cent, the final figures having yet to> be determined. An official estimate of the loss to the '\' ' r industry for the nine .months ended April 30 was given at £2,187,500 and for the last two seasons an unofficial estimate is £4 5 000,000. Unfavourable weather accounted *'for part of the drop last season. " I?,: The new 1939-4.0 season stretches ahead, and in spite of pre'dfctiions to the contrary, it may be confidently expected that farmers the Dominion over will as in the past do their utmost to produce the fullest returns possible. The industry, should not be confused with the jealousies of Trade Unionism. It is a trust for which the farmer feels a definite responsibility, )fiar above the swaying fortunes of party politics. It is a duty which evejry true cultivator of the soil owes to himself and the beneficent foraes which have endowed the good earth with the ability to produce the first needs of mankind. The genuine farming code knows no such word as 'slacking.' Upon its substantial foundations, firmly laid down by the strong pioneering hands of the past, has been buflti up an industry that knows no limits and hands out its laurels to thosq who live up to its high ideals with a liberal hand. The fortunes of the past have shown fluctuations and uncertainty, but they are mere pin-pricks* to the state of diaotic marketing and production that our earlier forebears had to contend with. In spite of difficult; times the farmer to-day will go forward with his high purpose in view, proud in the knowledge that he remains an individual answerable to himself for his actions, and retaining for himself the right to order and live his own life as he himself thinks fit. Co-operation has assisted him to build up for himself the greatest manufacturing and trading units the world has known. He has his own code and his own standards, which are not to be confused with the bickerings and fluctuating fortunes of political controversies. Thus the farmer in facing the new season will carry on much as he has done in the past dding his utmost to produce and asking no favours in the process.