The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 16, 1944. FARM LABOUR ADJUSTMENTS

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 195, 16 May 1944, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 16, 1944. FARM LABOUR ADJUSTMENTS

According to the Minister of National Servicer Mr. McLagan, applications from farmers for additional labour are" coming in fairly Satisfactorily. The intention to enable men to return to previous employers should result in many resuming work on properties where they know the farm system and working conditions, but it is inevitable that the process of returning men to the land will be a gradual one. The changes made necessary by men being called up for service—and this must apply to many branches of employment —cannot be reversed simply by making labour available again. The position can be made clear by stating an instance. On one farm three men milked a herd of about 120 cows. Both they and their employer were satisfied with the arrangements entered into, and as the cows were of a good grade, production was high. ■ When these men, in due course, were ordered, to report for medical inspection, and passed as physically fit, the farmer placed the position before the authorities. He did not wish to prevent the men from going on active service, and they were quite willing to go, but lie explained that it was a choice of men for the fighting forces or production. If the men went he would have to dispose of the herd and use whatever labour he could get to maintain production in other ways. At the time the demand for men was particularly heavy and the authorities held that these men were required. The herd was sold and tne men entered camp. It is obvious that their return, assuming they are available, or the offer of any other men, would not enable that farmer to resume.dairying. He would have the labour, and could bring the plant at the shed up to working standards, but he could not establish a herd because the stock is not available. Probably the best he could do, in the circumstances, would be to acquire some springing heifers, but the return in the first year, both in production and returns, would be small, and certainly uneconomical. It would take not the coming but the following season for him to resume operations on anything like his former scale, and he could not expect to reach the old production levels for another season or two after that, provided that he had managed to get the right class of dairy cow. The fact is quite clear that the offer to release three men to return to that farm would not solve the problem in any .way. And that must be the position on very many farms in the Dominion today. There are hundreds, probably thousands, of farms where the herds have been reduced to a size where they can be handled by the family labour available. Formerly one or perhaps two men were employed, and their return must be governed, in the majority of cases, by the ability to build up the herd to its former size. Tjiat in itself is a difficult, if indeed, a possible task. Lack of fertilizers has made it doubtful in many cases whether the carrying capacity of a property would justify a larger herd. A great deal, too, depends upon climatic conditions, and the farmer has to be careful that tlie future productive capacity of the place is not adversely affected. Where, however, it should be possible to find immediate employment for a fairly large number of men is on farms where the strain imposed oh the family labour —women and old people going info the miljdng-sheds—-cannot be borne any longer. . By making labour available there the Minister will have done something fo prevept any further reduction of the dairy herds and so to maintain production. That probably will be the immediate result, and it will be well worth while achieving. The further stage, increasing production, .will take longer time, for the reasons given, but as it proceeds it will steadily absorb more and more labour. What the community should bear in mind is that this is a policy in reverse order. The faking of the.mep in the first place necessitated adjustments arid changes in individual farming practice, and they were far-reaching. And a. little thought will make it clear that the position cannot be restored simply by providing labour. The precedent conditions must fie met, and as tfiat is done men will be required in increasing numbers. The withdrawal of the labour may have created the position that now exists, but it would be iljogical to contend that its return would enable the position to be restored at once. What really matters is that the steady increase in the supply of labour will place the country on the road to the restoration of production levels.