THE FARMING INCOME

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 108, 1 February 1943, Page 4

THE FARMING INCOME

When he attempted to justify the retention of a substantial part of the 15 per cent, increase which the British Government has ottered to pay for the current season’s wool clip the Minister of .Marketing placed a great deal of emphasis on alleged inflationary effects which the distribution of about £2,250,000 among over 30,000 sheepfarmers would have. The increase would be spread over the season’s appraisals and could affect the position very little if at all. But it would be interesting to- know whether those dealing with questions, of inflation have taken into account the fact that the value of dairy produce exports last financial year showed a decline of over £2,600,000. What was the effect of that substantial drop on the aggregate farming income? x- ’ t Production, as shown bv the annual report ot the Hew Zealand Dairv Board, fell by 9.419 per cent, on a butterfat basis last season, and this is attributed by the board mainly to the less favourable climatic conditions. The season did not start well, and the results are reflected in the returns. The change-over from butter to cheese may also have been a factor, but the board attributes part of the decline to the difficulty experienced by the farmers in obtaining adequate labour. The prospect of getting skilled labour is. of course, remote so that, as a Government report has stated, under present conditions employers generally will accept what they can get. And the cost of inexpert labour is invariably high when it comes to production. This is an aspect which directly concerns the Government. It is responsible for the control of manpower, and if the labour problems of the producers are tending to hamper production, then the results may be serious. 'l’he board’s report mentions the adoption of a policy “aiming at retention of sufficient labour to maintain production of the dairv produce which is urgently needed by the United Kingdom, but recent ballots have called up more and more men, including many farmers. Last vear the number of cows in milk was nearly SU.OUU below the total of five or six years ago. indicating that many men have gone out of dairying, and for tlie most part probably owing to difficulty hi obtaining labour. A duty of paramount importance is to ensure that the productive capacity of the country is maintained.