WHEAT PRICE

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24906, 20 June 1946, Page 4

WHEAT PRICE

“FARMERS NEGLECTED BY MINISTER” SELF-SUFFICIENCY URGED BY MR R. G. GERARD “The plain truth is that the farmers think the Government has lost interest in them because they have lost the farmers’ votes,” said -Mr R. G. Gerard, M.P., in an address at St. Martins last evening. He said that the wheatgrowers were entitled to a fair thing and no more in price; but the Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. B. Roberts) had neglected his job and would not meet the farmers. As representative of an area in which one-third of Nfw Zealand’s wheat crop was grown, Mr Gerard said a word of tribute was due to th? Minister, of Industries and Commerce (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan), who had gone to the wheatfields and tried to learn the farmers’ problem. The wheat position was very difficult. One of the many contributing causes was the lack of co-operation between the Government and the wjieatgrpwers. The Minister of Agriculture an#, the Minister of Industries and Commerce were equally responsible. During the war years, the wheatgrowers had a hard tussle in keeping the Mid-Canterbury crop up to 75,000 acres. Answering patriotic appeals, the farmers cropped out their land. Other crops were more nrofltable and the farmers could not be blamea for going for the best returns. The Minister of Agriculture had never accepted the invitation of the. growers to meet them in the wheatfields, yet he appealed for wheat to be grown. “Can you blame the farmer for being a little bit peevish?” asked Mr Gerard. “I do think there is good cause. It is our job to be self-supporting in wheat and we should not take one grain of Australian wheat which would feed the people starving overseas.” A price of 9d a bushel above tne cost of Australian wheat has been asked by the farmers. and it was better to support their cwn farmers, who should be given a fair price and no more. During his membership of Parliament, he had done nothing to foster discontent among the farmers, and had always worked to increase primary production, on which the prosperity of the country and the future of social security depended. More encouragement had to be given to the young farmers to own their farms, and if returned, the National Party .would probably advance finance up to 90 per cent, of the value of the farms.