FARMING AFFAIRS

Chronicle (Levin), 19 August 1946, Page 2

FARMING AFFAIRS

; * - I (This column is supplied veekly by j Federated Farniers of n.z., Tne , i'pjforniation given is'offlcial, but auy ■views expressed. ai'e those oi tne . Fedferation aiid are not necessarilv • 1 those of this newspaper.) Stahilisation Accounts Chief point of iuterest among farmers at present is the linal allocation of j the' prioe increases granted by the United Kingdom for New Zealand's exports of butter, cheese and meat under the contracts recently arranged. As that allocation is governed by an agreemcnt between thc Government and the Farniers' Federation made on June 18, 1942, and involves the operation of the spccial stabilisation accounts then set up, clarification of the position is neces-j sary and many producers appear to mis-j understand the system of dealing with, price increases. i Ihrst point in agreement was that allt price increases received by New Zea-j land after Deceinber 15, 1942, would bei credited to speciai stabilisation accounts: i'or both thc dairy and thc meat indus-, tries. Actual increased paymcnts to j producers and to associated sections of j the i'lidustry, together with cerlain. farm subsidy pay'mcut, were to be offset | against the overall increases by meaus of debits to those accounts. It was not, however, until early last1 year tliat the actual debits were agreed1 on. A joint committee of the Meat andj Dairy Boards then camo to agreement j with the Government and, altliough the! appropriate debits were applicuble sincel the stabilisation on date oi" Decembori 15, 3942, tliey were lirst brought tocharge in the Marketing Department 's! accounts for the year ended July 31,' 1945. j Dairy farmers must not confuse tliej Dairy Industrv Acconnt with the Dairy! Indnstry Btabilisation Account. The: lirst, the Dairy Industry Account, is the! ! ordinary working account operated bvj | the Marketing Department __ and toi j which the proceeds of the sale'of butterland cheese are credited and payments. j to dairy companics, on terms of Iheguaranteed price, are debited. The Dairy Industry Stabilisation Account is credited with increases in prices received from thc saies of butter and cheese after stabilisation date. That me-ans that all proceeds received! in excess of 117s sterling per cwt. forj butter and 73s sterling per cwt. for cheese, go to the credit of that account. J On the debit side is placed the various, charges agreed. upon. First of those is ; the amount absorbed by any cost alhm-' ances.-mado by the Government to thej industry. For 1944-45, that amounted to £5,07(1,300 for farm and faetory cost allowances. Other debits are-' such items as fertiliser subsidies (in partj and cheese crate subsidies, details o£ which werg set out in the joint committee 's agreement last year. After thoy wero iuet for the period up to the eud of Julv,; 1945, the arcount showed a credit; balance of £L, 075, 4-10. • The Meat Industrv Stabilisation Ae-: count is of similar strueture, aud must i not. be confused with ihe Meat Poolj Account. The latler «us set up when! the Government purchase of meat was' iniliated for ihe 19-11-42 seasou. That : year, the producer agreed to l'orego part '' of the increased price available from; the sale of meat and pelts in orde.r tu provide a fund for the purpose of maintaiuing the value of ewe mutton al a ' fuir aud reasouable levol. The balancet. » the credit oi' the Meat I'ool Account at July 31, .1945, was £0,213,413, and it has been estimate-l that the annual amount accniing to it in the future will be upproximately £2,000,000. Debits to it are small aiul of negligible importance in this discussion. The Meat Industry iStabilisation Account, however, receives lo its credit all price increases granted by the L'nited Kingdom since Deceuiber 15, 1942, less the accretions in the f.o.b. prices paid by ihe Marketing Department to free/.iug compauies and operalors since then. Debits are the various items of subsidy payiuents, including fertilisers (in part), stock food, lialf tlio pig crop ! subsidy, wage increases to froe/.ing companies, payment to the Minislry oi Hupply for suiulry farm requisites and a suni [inid to local butchors to keep down the retail price of meat. The latter item is of speciai significanc.e. The joint committee agreed with the Goveninient that a maximum of £400,000 in any oue year should be mot by the iiidustry or a local consumer subsidy l'or meat. In "Ihe case of local consumer subsidies for butter and cheese, however, no agreement was reaclied on a suitable amount. That bccame a iuatler f'or arbitratiou and the r.ecommenda tions of tlio Uouuiussiou are not yet knovvn. The aiiiounl niiglit well run intu inillioiis. In short, then, the present increases over all go to the credils of the two stabilisation accounts. It will be f'or thc Dairy and Meat Boards to naike. their case for increased costs and endeavour to secure. an increased payout for farmers. If that is granted, further debits will accordingly be made to the accounts for thc actual payment to producers. The balance Wiil reniain in the accounts. aud the Government has agreed that thoy " bclong to and shall be held for the bouelit of thc industry.''