FLOOD DAMAGE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 56, 14 March 1944, Page 5

FLOOD DAMAGE

MASS MEETING OF FARMERS

COY IvliX MKX T ASS IST AX (: E NKKDKD

Assessment of the damage done to property by the recent floods 1 on the Rangitaiki Plains was set out and discussed 1 at a mass meeting of farmers held at Awakeri last Friday. Mr W. A. McCracken, chairman of the Ran- . gitaiki Plains Dairy Company, who convened the meeting considered requests by farmers to place before the Government in the hope that some assistance might be forthcoming from this quarter. In his opening address, the cliair- ; mail thanked those outside, the district for their very welcome assist--•-ancc during the period of stress ■when many farmers stood in danger of losing all they had, in particular mentioning Mr Grant of Kopuri'ki, Mr Innes, Chief Drainage Engineer for the Lands and Survey Department. and Mr Sisarn who did all possible in the way of practical aid. The information from circulars distributed. to farmers by the dairy - companies was summed up by the chairman, the total losses so far accounted for in the Rangitaiki area being as follows: H,(iO() acres, of pasturage will have to be resown, 2,100 tons of hay ruined, 1107 chains of ■ fencing in need of repair,. 01 chains ol' fencing need renewing altogether, 1,092 head of dairy stock will have to be disposed of as well as 800 sheep, while the total loss of butterfat up to the end of June, will amount to OS.OOOIbs. All the reports are not yet to hand. Opouriao District Mr J. Moody, Secretary of the -■ Opouriao Dairy Company, next - spoke saying that a meeting of the company had been held soon after the ilood and a committee had. been formed to meet a deputation from •Wellington.. He said that his district had been fortunate, as the damage in Opouriao had not been as serious as might Avell have been expected so they had been able to offer all tlie-assistance possible to the Rangitaiki Company. The damage which had been done, he said, was due mainly to river erosion, and with, the exception of Mr Neil Reid, farm-. >■ ers had not sustained exceptionally heavy losses. Mr C. W. Taylor, of the Department of Agriculture next spoke, laying down his points, as follows: That unless the grass seed was sown during the next six weeks, it would be too late, and the only crops the farmers Avould have for next spring would he l'ence-high weeds. If this happened, then it would, cost a great deal more to plough the pastures than it would at present to merely harrow tliem. Therefore, he said, it Avas necessary to get the seed in as soon as possible, in order to avoid this. He also emphasised the necessity for a strong committee of farmers to su,pply the necessary driving force behind the department in ord*er to get the supplies as soon as jjossible. Supplies of Grass Seed Available In a statement, Mr MeCraeken .said that word from Auckland had intimated that there would be ample supplies of grass seed available so there should be no difficulty from that quarter. With regard, to finance, he said that for farmers to attempt to borrow money privately to repair • damages was an impossibility, and that National assistance was needed. Mr J'. L. Burnett, Chairman of the Whakatane County Council., .mentioned that a list had been compiled, and arrangements had been made whereby 200 cows could be distributed in small lots among farmers able, to take them, and carry them right through, the winter, so - avoiding the necessity of drying them off. I'm the matter of river erosion, Mr Burnett said that this had been taken up with Mr Sullivan, M.P., and that an engineer had been sent down to inspect all the rivers in. the district. Continuing, he stated that with regard, to finance apparently the only assistance the Government had in. mind was an ad« vance through th e State Advances which was not much use. "What we need," he said, "is a strong committee. to deal with finance."

Mr Witliy next spoke, staying that both from the point of view of National industry and the farmer himself, it was necessary, to get the land in, grass without delay. "We went through this six years ago, and with no assistance whatsoever it took us three years to pick up lee-way again" he. remarked. "We cann»t afford to be be* hind, in production for three years during war-time. What I

Avou'ld ljike to know is, how is .3000 acres going to be regrassed in time whien there are no con-; tractors or labour worth speaking of to dt> the jobtt I there-; fore' move that a committee of from five to seven members be set up to deal primarily with regrassing the land within the next five or six weeks." Question of Re-sowing Mr Haul tain: "Is it the opinion ol" Mr Taylor Hint the land eoiild be resown without re.-eultivation?" Mr Taylor: "When the inspection was made there were still three to four thousand acres under Avater, and it was therefore impossible to tell the condition of this land or the amount of silt on it, but if it is pumice country then harrowing will probably suffice.' However it is a difficult question to answer till a thorough survey has been made."

Mr P. Baird .stated that in the report which had been made out regarding stock losses, it was mentioned that approximately 4.10 cows had been placed on other places where they could, be held till the end. of April. "When we are requesting assistance, however," he said, "1 think we .should stress the point that these are but a third of the cows thjitj have, been placed privately by their owners." Mr Cox: "Don't you think that regrassing would depend to a large extent 01.1 the financial assistance which Tanners could obtain?" While "all the. farmers present were in favour of forming a committee, to investigate the matter, opinions were divided as to whether It should be one to deal merely with re-grass-ing, or whether it should, have the power to cover all sides of the question. Committee Set Up As the financial side of the question was inextricably tied up with the re-grassing, the motion was put and accepted that a committee should be; set up to investigate all matters, physical and financial arising from the flood. Accordingly, a committee was elected consisting of, MiMcLean, Mr RadclifTe, Mr Baird, Mr McCrackcn, Mr I. B. (low, Mr Marx and Mr Martin.

The proposal was also raised and accepted that a request be made to the Ministers of Land, Agriculture and Public Works to visit the district so that the farmers would then know where they stood as regards Government assistance, and also that in extreme cases the Government be asked to make a minimum grant of half the amount necessary for regrasiiig a farmer's property.

■ It'was also decided that the Govi eminent be asked to ascertain through its own officers what assistance the share milkers who were now deprive'.! uf income needed. Mr .1. U. Alexander stated that if this motion was put through the Primary Production Council the. farmers would have the weight of both the Council and their own committee thV question.