WHEAT

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24898, 11 June 1946, Page 2

WHEAT

Sir,-—The justification for an increase in the wheat price is questioned by T. Carroll. My contention is, that if 7s Id was a fair price last year, it is not sufficient this year. Cost increases cpuld be listed under various headings, the most obvious being farm wages, and the least obvious, but undoubtedly the most important, the rehabilitation of the soil. The average wheat acreage over the war years was higher than for a similar period before the war, with a resultant loss of fertility. Comparing the header With more antiquated methods of harvesting, as your correspondent does, reminds me that I once bought a good made-to-measure suit for less than £5. Every cut and stitch was done by hand. In spite of all the modern machinery available to-day, for weaving, cutting and sewing, one would be offered a shoddy “reach-me-down” for three times that amount.— Yours, etc.,

D. ROBERTSON. Rakaia, June 8, 1946. Sir, —The growing of wheat is important to evexybody, yet no one appears to be responsible. The growers ask for a higher price. This would mean dearer bread and would not be a permanent solution of the trouble. If the .present Government or the future one would remove all taxes on wheat from the grower to the consumer, no doubt the farmers would grow all the wheat this country needs and might be able to do so at a lower price than at present. As the Government probably needs all the funds obtained by taxation, it would have to adopt some other means of obtaining the money. There is, of course, a more economic method of obtaining finance than by taxation.—Yours, etc., A. BARRETT. Leeston, June 10, 1946.

Sir—l see from newspaper reports that farmers state they cannot afford to grow wheat at present prices because barley and oats are a better proposition. Then why on earth do they not go ahead and grow barley and oats? Apparently it is the demand for feed wheat which is mostly the cause of our heavy importations; so the substitution of other grains will release an equal quantity of wheat. If Federated Farmers really want to help starving people, and. are not trying to use this crisis in their own selfish interests, they can release wheat by producing other grains for feed purposes.—Yours, etc., MAIZY-DOATS. June 10, 1946.