MORE FARMERS NEEDED

Chronicle (Levin), 18 May 1946, Page 6

MORE FARMERS NEEDED

TRAINING OF EX-SERVICEMEN The apparent diffieulty in getting sufficient qxperienced private farmers to train ex-servicemen under the Rehabilitatipii Farm Training Scheme arousedr6onsiderable coniment at the rii.on.thly mceting of the Rehabilitation board. Oue member, Mr. >S. W. Gaspar, said it did not seem to tally that there was a sliortage "of rural workers on •the oue haiid and'.pn the other that in niany districts ex-servieemen were iinding it hard to get trainee-employment on subsidy. The majority of these exservicemen had had- some previous farming experience gnd sliould be an asset to any. farmer. V Information before the' board showed that there were at th.e. eud of March 422 ex-servicenien awaiting placement on subsidy with private farmers and cnly 5(5 farmers awaiting trainees. Mr. E. L. Oullen, M.P., contended that piost Q.f the men seekijig training •vvere mthi'ied- men; for ,#hbnr It was diffieultv to find living accoffimodution. ILc cohsidercd that niarried.. men \vould account for (50 per cent. of the fuen coneerned. "Even if only ono-third are single men, it stiil docsn't add up," commented Mr. Gaspar. It seenled strange that there was so much talk of a drift from the country to the towns Avhen men eager to .cork in the country could not iind employnient. The Director of Rehabilitation said that all relevant organisations were eonsulted in the nominafemg of suitaldo private farmers. To a reinark that farmers lnight. be reluc'tant. 16 pav the slipulated contribution to a traiuee's wages, he re'plied that 'under- the law as it uow stood a farmer refptiVrng labour in the ordinarv way wopI4-.fi aye to lind the mueli gfeater sun*. of' £5."os a week. . ' ' V V'.;*" • A Another member, Mr. 43k B.aftim, suggested that' the men fliemselVes niight be reluctant to leave 'oiie .dfstrict and go to another. -• ,l . . j V "If there are not tliepo'sitions, the'n the board shonld know about it, " eoneluded Mr. Gaspar. The Minister of Rehabilitation,. the Ifon. G. F. iSkinner, tliought still more publieity sliould be given to the need for suitable private farmers to train ex-servieemen. There certaiuly sliould not be one unmarried cx-servicemen desiring training and unable to iind an emplover, except perhaps iu the odd cuse whcre his family obligations — such as liaving a widowed motlier — miglit prevent him from sliifting out of his own district. Position Worsening. Subsequent information given bv the Iiehabilitation Department disclosed that the trend over reeent montlus has been a marked increase in the ratio of the ex-servieemen awaiting training and the private farmers seeking trainees. For ' natan.ee, in Marc|i, 1945, there were Tll bex-servieemeiy i-ii that category. By Aftgust of the samq . year, incidentally f-t the beginniil'g of. the dairving season, the position had vastlv improved, there being then 105 exservieemen and 115 farmers, By Jauuary, 194(5, however, tlie position had again deteriorated there being 329 exservieemen and 111 farmers. February &aw a further worsening, with 375 wonld-lie trainees and 89 farmers to train them. The gap again widened iu IMareh— Itlie month reviewed by the bQftrd— rwlien the ligures were 422 and

5(5 s respeetively. This t,° some. extent miglit be a.eeounted f'orby the drought conditions in '.th,e north ancl by in..crehsed defnobilisation flgures. An analysis,, of tlie Afareh position sIiqws that tll'ere werf, 197 jex-.seryice; meii awaiting 'training iir dairyiiig, '94' in slieep farming, 47 in mixed sheep and darrving, 49 in sheep "and" agriculture, none in agricifilfu'fe,; 355IinTSubsiriiary types of farming,- such as poultrv farming-, 'bee-k'eeping;vahd so 'on. — * ■iv.i t4 - -