GUARANTEED PRICE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 123, 30 June 1941, Page 5

GUARANTEED PRICE

SAME AS LAST YEAR PRESIDENT NOT SATISFIED An announcement that the guaranteed price' for butter and cheese for the; 1941-42 season would be the same as that paid last season was made by the Minister of Marketing, the Hon. J. G. Barclay, at the National Dairy Conference held in Auckland on Wednesday. The prices paid last season wera 14.89 d per pound butter and 8.42 d per pound cheese, giving an equivalent butterfat return of 15.88 d and 17.88 d respectively. Mr Barclay stated that the quantity of butter to be purchased by the United Kingdom for the 1941-42 season is not yet finaliseid, but there is every likelihood that there will be a surplus over the contract quan-. tity. The Government is prepared, however, under its guaranteed price scheme, to purchase all butter manufactured for export, including whey butter, and w y ill itself assume responsibility for any loss which may ensure. The Government is thus accepting liability for about £6,000,» 000. The position regarding cheese said the Minister, is different from that of butter, on account of Britain being prepared to take quantities in excess of what New Zealand has pre. viously supplied. Later in the proceedings the chairman, Mr A. Morton, said he regretted that the price for next season made no provision for the increased costs being borne by farmers and thei industry. He stated that since the price was; first fixed three j-ears ago there had been con siderable increases in costs. Othei sections of the community have rf> ceived higher incomes to meet their rising costs, but the farmers are asked to be content with the same remuneration as they received three years ago. Not only had farmers to meet tlie increased costs in their industry, but they also had to fac- 1 the increased cost of living, which was the only increase in costs that the workers had to bear.