FARM CONDITIONS IN N.Z.

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 61, 4 December 1937, Page 16

FARM CONDITIONS IN N.Z.

Review of Past Season's Operations ENCOURAGING FACTORS *'It is always a pleasure "to piace. before you a review of farming condl-' tions which discloses satisfactory xeturns to our primary producers, and to-day I am bappy to report that for the past year both production and realisations have given to the man on the land a measure of encouragement and reward," said Mr. T. Currie (Wanganui), chairman of directors of the New Zealand Parmers ' Co-operation Distributing Company Ltd., when addressing the annuai meeting pf shareholders at Masterton on Wednesday. "Brighter economic conditions in the Home Oountry and the greater spending power of the people through a xevival in industry have created a steady demand for our wool and meat, whilst our dairy produce has continued to command a leading position in the overseas mar-i kets. Britain has experienced a mild boom, resulting in increased consumption of our main exports, and whilst armaments and similaT singular projects may have accounted for a large measure of this ' uuprecedenteA fttimmation in trade, in the meantime the New Zealand proclucer has shared largely in the improved conditions. As is inevitable in prosperous times, costs of production have llsen considerably, and this movempnt has been further accentuated by the trend of modern legislation. However, apart from the difficulties encountered in certain localities through unfavourable climatic yariations, .our producers have just .concluded a .very gratifying year, and I' wish I could view the conditions lying ahead with the same degree of .confidence. "As forecasted jn my report last year, the past season has proved a most prohtable one, for wool-growers. " The high figures ruling in the Home and Dominion markets yielded pleasing returns, compen&ating in a measure for the unfavourable realisations of the previous few years. Owing to ,the absence of held-over clips, the ' t.PtaI quantity of wool exported is less than for the previous year, but the deelared value shows an increase pf about six million pounds in value. The comparatlve figures are: — To dune, 1937: 846,374 bales yalued at £18,770,643. To dune, 1936: 918,471 bales yalued at £12,762,498. 1 Thus even with a xeduction in quantity of exports of 8 per cent., the value is higher by 47. per cent. In the Dominion the average salo price per bale at £22 6s 8d is a vast improvement on the previous year's figure of £13 6s Sdj the prive average per lb. being io.71d against 9.13d in 1935-36. Apari from a temporary setback in February, the realisations at the Dominion saies were steady throughout the season. A rather remarkable f eature was the smal] difierence between the prices for fina and coarse wools — in some cases tho latter equalled the figures realised foi the finer grades. At the first Wellington sale in December, out- of a catal'ogue of 30,000 bales, 94 per cent. was sold under ,the hammer, at prices averaging over £2o per bale. The January sale saw prices advance by 14 d to 2d per lb. with 44/4Gs bringing up to 19d. A xeduction in values greeted the Februaiy ofiorings, buc there was a sharp recovery at the next sale in April, especially for coarser wool, which brought up Lto 20d. Though there is little carry-over wool in the new season, and world stocks are reported to be short, in tho meantime values have receded considerably and the outlooa for the 1937-38 clip is far from promising. The Auckland sale held since the date of this report has proved very disappointing and in sympathy with ,the .London market, prices showed a decline ;of about 40 per cent. Frozen meat; Dealing with the meat .trade, the figures supplied by the Meat 'Board for overseas shipments to Sep,tember 30 show increases in lamb, jchilled beef and boneless beef, whilst Imutton, frozen beef and pork have dejclined. The comparative figures are aj [foO^^0* — ,

The average price for our lamb on fhe Home market was from 6£d to 7^d, the highest point being in February, at 7id to 8£d. It seems evident that. so long as we conce^trate on quality, our lamb will maintain a premium over other countries, but our producers must not let up, as our competitors are striving to secure a footing, and *to share in the reputation hitherto enjoyed by our superior lambs. For mutton, pricei showed a slight increase on last year's figures, averaging about 3Jd lb. for ewes, and from 4|d to 4-Jd for wethers. Chilled beef exports again show an increase, and with this expandiug trade, breeders will require to exereise every care in regard to size and quality if they wish to hold the

[Prices varied considerably from month : to month and it is apparent that it will take time and organisation to place this trade on a more efficient basis. Frozen beef exports are down — undoubtedly on account of the expansion of the chilled beef trade, whilst frozen pork is about the same. Prices of the latter show an improvement pf about Jd per lb. The agreement concluded with the United Kingdom by Hon. Walter Nash and his associates from ,the New Zealand Meat Producers' Board must be eonsidered highly satisfactary as it .provides for a substantial increase in rne totai allocatxoii of iinports of Newi Zealand mutton and lamb for the cur-J pent year. Dairy produce: Coming .to this im-i portant and much-discussed industry,] : we find a further substantial increase j iii the grading figures for the season' ended July 31. viz.: —

This provides an increase of 5.37 per cent. in butter, and 3.12 per cent. in eheese and, taking the two products on a butterfat basis, the increase is 4.889 per cent. — truly a most satisfactory season. T.he London market for butter fluctuated considerably during the year, falling from 121s in August, 1936, to 83s in Fcbruary, 1937, thereafter gradually recovering until it touched the high figure of 151s in September. [Values have since reeeded to 115s. Cheese more or less followed the same,, trend as butter, but unf ortunately did not attain ,to the same high proportionate values in the later months of the year, 74s being about top price. The operation of the Government guaranteed price has been watched with 'considerable interest and opinions regarding its virtues seem somewhat divided. For the past season the basic guaranteed price for butter stood at 12 9-16d per lb., which is equal to 106s 6d sterling per cwt. ih the London maTket; and for cheese 6.8125d per lb., equal to 61s 3d London. For ]the ccming season these prices have been increased to 13Jd for butter (equal to 112s sterling on London market) and to 7.54d for cheese (equal ,to 67s London).; On the whole, it must be agreed that, the dairy-farmer has experienced a successful season during the last year. '• The yalue of our wool xeturns hadj considerably augmented the total of our r exports,' the figures being the highest! for many years. In New Zealhnd cur-j rency the position at September 30 was! as follows: — l

The surplus or excess of exports for! 1937 was £11,638,463, and for 1936 £15,014,488. Whilst exports have xisen by about nine million pounds, imports have increased by nearly thirteen millions, thus considerably xeducing our; favourable balance pf trade. It can be assumed that the heavy increases in imports denotes a further expansion in our internal trade, but with the prospect of a considerable drop in the value of our exports, care will Tequire to be exercised regarding the extent of our importi if we desire to maintain a healthy surplus in our trade xeturns. The banking returns from January to September of this year indicate a further appreciation in the total of advances, and the excess of deposits at September 30 stands at about £700,000 less than at the same date last year. No doubt more money is now required to run trading eoncerns and to finance farming ventures, and the flow of capital into trade and industry is a welcome movement provided, of course, undue speculation is avoided. Live stoek returns: A new Tecord has been ereated in the total number of sheep in the Dominion, the figures at April 30 last being 31,508,818 as against 30,113,704 in the previous year. Breeding ewes are ahead by 663,116 which is a pleasing figure. Dairy cows are slightly lower at 1,935,524 but the average butter-fat return per cow in milii at 235.051bs. is an improvement on last year's figure of 233.251bs. Agricultural products: Owing to the unfavourable harvest period, whica prevailed in most parts of the Dominion, seed and cereal crops suffered considerably, with the resultant low vield and low germinations. Certified ryegrass — now an important braneh - of production in the Wellington province — showed a reduction in area of 50 per cent., whilst the wet weather seriously affeeted the returns from this reduced area. The same remarks apply to certified white clover. Wheat, oats and batley crops suffered considerably through the wet harvest, and the quality of our chaff was also affected. Cropping is always less popular when wool and meat prices are high, and with the increased costs of production now ruling, there seems little likelihood of mueh expansion in this field of farming activties. Further, the increased use of 'motors and tractors deprives the producer of a one-time rcady market for his oats, chaff and hay. ' Fertilisers: The continued use of phosphatie and other fertilisers has produeed a marked increase in the carrying capacity of our f arm lands, . which now demand *a definite and systematic process of pasture utilisation, to ensure maximum benefits. The extraordinary demand for superphosphate during last autumn caused an unfortunate hold-up in supplies and transport, but tbose ' responsible assure us that ample provision ha3 now been made to overeome i these difiiculfcLf# during j^ eoming sea- ' son.

Sept. 3U, Sept. 30, i 1937. 1936. ' Carcases. . Carcases. Lamb 9,1S7,369 8,739,880 Mutton .. .. .. .. 1,800,570 1,872,220 Fork 667,104 669,444 Frozen beef, qrs. . . 188,128 205,268 Chilled beef, qrs. . . 201,105 144,169 Boneless beef, bags 299,413 235,505

1936-37. 1935-36 Increase Tons. Tons. Tons. Butter ... 154,484 146,687 7,777 Cheese .. 88,222 85,555 2,667

Exports. Imports. f 1937 ... £65,994,303 £54,355,840 ! 1936 ... £56,686,762 £41,672,340 [