THREAT TO DAIRYING INDUSTRY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 290, 2 April 1941, Page 4

THREAT TO DAIRYING INDUSTRY

IN the face of the produce more' campaign initiated by the Government as a basic necessity to the Dominion s war effort, farmers throughout the Dominion are asking themselves, since the receipt of the recent curtailment note from England—what now? Doubtless the matter will be well discused at the meeting of the New Zealand Farmers' Union at Edgecumbe this evening, when it will be interesting to qompare the reaction of Rangitaiki farmers to a situation which constitutes the worst threat to our primary industry in years. Shortage of ships is the main contributing factor to the new position which has been described officially as drastic, bad and 'black' as far as the dairying industry is concerned, while the remedies put forward include the exploitation' of new Eastern markets, the reduction of herds, and the lowering of the local market price. This is perhaps the first real commercial setback New Zealand, has experienced in the present war,, and though the outlook is not inviting, there is still time for a satisfactory solution to a problem, which might very easily throw our entire industrial mechanism out of gear. We must still feel thankful that the blow has fallen when the season is following its natural decline, though with the shipping and cool stores already overflowing, the threat of a paralysing glut is most evident. The tale is very different from the state of sifairs which ruled during the last war, when New Zealand farmers received half-a-crown per lb. butterfat and a similar exaggerated price for other produce. The days of free marketing had their points, but they could scarcely be described as fair to the men and women of the United Kingdom who in those dark days were on food rations for four years while the New Zealand farmers experienced a boom period as a result of soaring prices. To-day the shipping crisis appears to be about to upset the industry which makes for our most, stable income. But once again the men and women of England are bearing the brunt and are suffering as a direct result of the enemy attack. Apprehensively, though we regard the position, who are we to complain, when daily we read of our kinsfolk in the Homeland, suffering, dying and losing their all. It is only by comparisons such as these that we are brought to realise the smallness of our own inconveniences. In this isolated haven, we have at least our homes intact, food and clothing in abundance and work for all. We are still rich in all the essentials of life., and if our economic. s3 7 stem suffers there will still be on hand all the necessities of life, though the adjustments in contracting the volume of production to meet the new situation will of course lead to a certain amount of trouble and disorganisation. The open speaking by President Roosevelt also lends colour to the possibility of American vessels yet coming to the rescue, by providing both transport and protection. This thought however must be relegated, for the time being, to wishful thinking on the part of lucky New Zealanders who have not as yet had their first taste of war or felt the pressure of economic distress. We are at war, and cannot expect to go on living cur ordered lives year after year without some sort of interruption. War to-day is swift and deadly, and strikes where least expected. Let us rather be prepared to faqs up to anything it brings, and like our Einglish cousins take it on the chin, marching doggedly on till victory is attained.