SURPLUS CROPS

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 105, 28 January 1943, Page 4

SURPLUS CROPS

• When farmers with land suitable for cropping set about the preparatory work for the 1942-43 season the factor that caused them the most anxiety was the provision of sufficient skilled labour. lh e iequireinents of that class of farming are heavy m that respect, and it was reported that in the south some suitable areas were not sown, although the land had been ploughed, simply because ot ack of labour. The same difficulty was anticipated when it came to harvesting the crops, but by using military units that appears to have been reduced materially, if not altogether removed. But probably no tanner when he made his plans for the season, guided by the requests and urgent calls of the authorities, thought it necessary to take into consideration the fact that he might experience difficulty in disposing of the crops. Reports from the south now state that farmers, merchants, millers and the primary production councils have been placed in an invidious position through the uncertainty of the market tor oats. Ihe latest returns relating to crops sown show that farmers have devoted a largci proportion of the area under oats (234,000 acres) to the kinds suitable for making oatmeal, and the harvest is now being reaped, but therp is no market. The mills that might have been expected to absorb the ciop are said to be heavily slocked with oatmeal and have no orders on tlicii books that would relieve the position and enable them to purchase new season's oats. . It is an unexpected development and the chain ol causes traces back to the action of the authorities in calling on the producers tor oats suitable for milling purposes. It would not be sufficient to say that the over-supply is temporary and expect the growers to hold then oats in stack. Most of them will have completed their contracts ioi threshing and no small percentage of them will require the proceeds from the sale of the grain to carry them on. If threshing has to be postponed there will be added expense and il would not be just that this should fall on those, who had done their best io meet what they were given to understand were the urgent requirements of lhe country.