PRIMARY PRODUCTION

Chronicle (Levin), 1 June 1946, Page 2

PRIMARY PRODUCTION

Otaki Council's Meeting A meeting of members of the Otaki Primary Production Council was held on Thursday night, the chairman, Mr. Walter Jepson, presiding. There was a good attendance, including gr'owers and others present by invitation, among the number being the Mayor (Mr. C. F. Atmore) . Mr. Jepson extended a hearty welcome to all in attendance at v/hat, he termed, was. the council's finai meeting. The council, he said, was the last to be formed in New Zealand, and there was no doubt but that it had proved its worth. He expressed his thanks to all who had given him support through its oerm, mentioning that the council had worked splendidly for nearly five years. Members were called upon to do all manner of things, sometimes at very short notice, and at great inconvenience. Never once had there been a complaint, which was indeed gratifying, as many had other war-time work to auena to apart from workmg short-hand-ed on their farms. Mr. C. C. Holmes, he said, had proved a most able denuty-chairman and had been of great assistance. His wisdom could aiways be relied upon, togethei with his sense of fairness. His work at the Appeal Court had been most satisfactorily carried out, while other duties he .had rendered had been invaluable. In Mr. F. S. Si'mcox, who had beenv minute secretary, the council had had a most able' official, while the committee as j a whole had dealt with many appli- 1 cations for such things as wire,! gumboots, tyres, petrol, buildings,; better facilities at the railway j yards, as well as cement, manures.j drains to relieve fioods, etc. The council had realised that production was essential for the war effect, and for New Zealand Itself. It was recognised that soldiers would need food which New Zealand could produce better than any other country in the world, especially when it was taken into consideration the amount produced per person directiy engaged in farming. The council's efforts had saved farms from going out of production, and others from dropping in production more than they had done. The division of the territory into zones and one member being in charge of each zone had proved a solid idea. Under this system it was possible to contact all the farmers' at a moment's notice. Mr. Jepson considered members could feel proud of the work accomplished. i Farmers throughout had appreciated all that had been done for them, and it was pleasing to know that the Minister of Agriculture had sent the council a letter of thanks for the work so ably carried | outs • . I I •y-- ■ Production Increase Urgent The council had been asked by he Acting-Director of Agriculture to carry on unofficially until some organisation such as the Federated Farmers could take up the wbrk, continued Mr. Jepson. He thought all would recognise that the production of food was just as urgent now as It had been during the war, if not more so. Mr. Jepson said he was of the opinion that the Government shouid have selected farmers, where there v/as not a resident member of the Department of Agriculture, to act as laiason officer and to be paid by the Government. That was until such officers for agriculture couid be trained. He considered it would be unfair to expect Federated Farmers to pay costs from their own money. In regard to increased production to save people from starving, he considered that farmers. shouid be aivided into two groups,; and be given the option which ' group they shouid be placed in. Group one shouid have an increas- . ed price for all they could produce ; above the average of the last three or four years, while group two, instead of an increased price,

shouid have a reduction in taxation on the increased amount and the abolition of the excess profit ta.x in : ;oth cases. The number of men applying for farm jobs and not mough farmers v/illing to employ th^m indicated that it was a quesf'ion of economics. He knew that it was not a shortage of work on • farms. To say that machines had 1one away with the necessity for; .nen on farms was not right. When ■ coffee was dumped in the sea and ; railway engines stocked with wheat, ; vhile people were actually "starving ; ■t vas thought that £. S. D. was j starving people to d°ath, and that' such a thing would not happen j again, but he was not so sure on ; the point. After all, farmers had to! be solvent, and no one shouid j expect them to face financial ruin.' To produce extra produce above a; C°rtain econbmic level was much, more costly. In other words farm-! ers could produce more produce, butj. at an increased loss. ■ Mr. Tennent had written stating! that he had ■ been preseiit at the ! start of the council. It was inevit- i able that the councils had to go out ! of existence as they had been set i up as a war-time emergency. With- j out the assistance of the" Primary Production Councils, of which there were thirty-seven, and the two ' thousand committees right throughout the country, the business of farming during the war period would have been mueh more 3

difficult than it had been. The councils and their committees, hau played an extremely important part xn cushioning the eiiecr of all" the restrictions, shortages and "rea tape" essential during war-time, and had s'oftened the blow to the farmer by seeing that those farmers who needed essential materials co carry on production received them. Council Thanked Mr. Tennent further stated that he wanted personahy, on behaif oi ohe Minister of Agriculture and the Department, to tnank the council xor the excellent j®b of work which *uhey had done. Particularly did tne speaker stress the assistance given oy the councils in tne matter of manpower appeals. The committees knew of individual circumotances. He was sure that the other Government departments felt as his own department did that the committees- and the councils as a whole had helped very materially in New Zealand's war effort. When he thought of how their .f ertiliser diffimlties had been largely overcome as a result of the work of the com1 mittees, he was amazed how the nmited amount of f ertiliser had oeen distributed. During the four years of rationing qf fertilisers there had been only two proscecuuions carried out by the Department of Agriculture for the wrongful use of fertiliser. That was a tribute, first and foremost to the farmers of New Zealand and, secondly, to the fertiliser committees of the Councils of Primary Production for the way in which they had controlled the distribution of fertilisers. The questions of the distribution of tyres and petrol, and of wire and gumboots, were other matters most successfully dealt i with by the councils. Continuing, Mr. Tennent said jthat some people had asked why the councils were being disbanded if they were of such value, especially at a critical time like the present. They- had to remember that ; when the war came upon them the i Government had looked round and i realised very quickly that not only i would fighting forces be necessary to win the war, but also that adei quate food production was essential. The only way to get the most i production would be to form the, i farmers into an advisory unit, and i get the best advice that could be ; obtained. They had, therefore, got itogether the representatives of the Farmers' Union, Workers' Union, A. ;and. P. Societies, Sheepowners' Federation, the Dairy Board and otlier daify 'ifitbfe'sts, ahd; by "'the co-ordination and co-operation of all interested parties the mangificent results which had been obtained naturally came about as one would have expected. Farmers Re-organised The war was now finished and :the farmers themselves had re-oi-ganised themselves into a Farmers' Federation. Despite What one heard, the speaker said he felt sure that if the Farmers' Federation was properly run there was no reason why the farmers . of New -Zealand shouid not still obtain the same aaequate services from the Farmers' Federation which they had obtained in the past from the Primary Production Councils. It was not a Government organisation that had serviced the farmers, but the groups of farmers themselves which had given that essential service, and had done so much for them. If that cOuld be done during the war, workmg in with tne Government departments, there was no reason why the farmers could not do it after tne war. Mr. Tennent said that he was hopeful that one of the outcomes of the Farmers' Federation would be a continuance of the work done by Primary Production Councils. Despite the difference of political opinions of the many people that went to make up the Primary Production Councils and Committees there was. very little political criticism brought about by the councils. Their work. was naturally divorced from politics. They had served the Government faithfully and

had helped New Zealand, and in their job they had contributed to winning the war. They had had ai pretty rough sort of a job to do,j a thankless job, but there was this j consolation, that they had done a job which had really helped the! country. They had done a good job for their fellow farmers. The com-1 mittees were deserving of the high- ! est praise. The councils also hadi done good work, as well as their j chairmen and secretarj.es; they had worked magnificently and he wanted to place it on record that so far as the Department of Agriculture was concerned they were" deepiy appreciative of the work of everyone, councils and committees. Finally, he wanted to say that, Mthough "they did not realise it, they had really been members of ihe Department of Agriculture working gratis for the -department. The department had eight thousand farmers, whose main work had been to increase production and it had never had such fine co-opera-tion as had existed in the .councils end comiruttees of Primary Produc"ion. Mr. Holmes stated that on eccount of being away in Wanganui that day at a meeting of farmers he had been unable to prepare a rpeech, but it was pleasing to know that Mr. Jepson, who had proved a most able chairman, had dealt ably on various points. He agrebd thaJ more work was wanted on the

farms, but the question was how to get it. After warmly congratuiating Mr. Jepson and members of the council on their work, Mr. Holmes extended thanks to the visitors, especially the Maydr, for attendmg the meeting. Thanks were extended to Constable Calwell and the Press for help at various times, which he said was fully appreciated. Apologies were tendered on behaif of Mr. L. G. Lowry, M.P., Messrs. Vic. Cottle, O'Rourke, Grant and Buxton. Mr. Holmes stated that as the council had done such good work he was sorry to learn that it was going to disband. All had been a happy family. He hoped, he said, to submit particulars of the Federated Farmers' meeting at Wanganui to farmers locally at a late'r date. Unfortunately, he had to leave the meeting to return to Otaki, and had missed some very important discussions in consequence. He had no doubt that Federated Farmers would do good work. Mr. R. W. Jenkins spoke of the able chairmanship of Mr. Jepson and of the fine work done by the council. The council had had a strenuous time, but had done well. Farmers had proved to the, Government that more good work had been done than the Government gave them credit for. He considered that it would have been far better had more produce and l.ess men been sent overseas at wartime, although he admitted that the men who had gone overseas had done a wonderful job. But, in his mind, production would have been to better advantage,- espqcially as New Zealand was in a position to only send a comparative handful of men. He also considered that farmers were unduly taxed, but the farmer was not like the miner; he would not say he would not do nis job. Farmers kept going, and continued to do good work. Tributes to Council Mr. Atmore congratulated the chairman and the council for its good work, stating that he considered that an excellent job had been made. He remembered the formation of the council, and knew the good effect the recommendations of jthe council had had. The work had proved difficult, but the council had aiways done the right thing. Mr. Walter Taylor spoke in a similar strain, but expressed surprise to hear that the council was going out of office. This was thei time, he maintained, that the coun- j cil shouid be in office. Extra food; was wanted and farmers were will- j ing to do their best. He hoped thatj Federated Farmers' would be a suc- j cess, while it was necessary to seej that farmers were not overtaxed.i There was a limit to taxation on; food. Mr. Holmes referred to the goodj work carried out by the Commer-j cial Gardeners ; that body had some j able men on its committee. They! had put up a good fight and had; accomplished wonderful work, anct! it was pleasing to know that farm-j ers had offered help if necessary. | Mr. F. S. Simcox, after dealing I with standard values, spoke of the! work of the farmer, and how he; had to deal with many complicated; matters. Mr. W. A. Calwell, after thank-i ing the council for its invitation,! stated that he had listened with! interest to the problems discussed,! and added that in his mind pro-! duction was absolutely essential. He thought the commitment of; men overseas was too high; it would have been far better had there been j more production of produce. He did I not favour the victory parade asi men going overseas swallowed upj the foodstuffs so badly needed by j others. Mr. E. Bartosh, a representative ! of the Commercial Growers, thanked the council for its invitation, and j gave a resume of the work carried j out in Wellington by the sale of' produce to citizens. There hadj been several appeals to Court on j behaif of gardeners, and it wasj pleasing to know that their cases J had been ably attended to. He wa? a great believer in organisation,, and maintained nothing would bej better for farmers than solid organ- ; isation. Considerable interest hadj been taken in ihe Federated Farm- i ers' movement which he considered iwould be beneficial. Mr. Bartosh; spoke of the marketing of vegetables, and how it had been agreed to call on the help of farmers if needed. Their help, however. was not needed. On one day alone in Wellington there were no less than 36 men selling from lorries, and the sum of £757 had been taken for the sale of vegetables. Among ine helpers were several Chinese. The matter of finance had yet to be considered. Expenses would be high, but it was hoped to come out on the right side. The chairman then ' extended thanks to all who had , attended. after .which supper, supervised by Mrs. Jepson was dispensed. .