“PRODUCTION NOT FALLING”

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 3257, 30 April 1943, Page 5

“PRODUCTION NOT FALLING”

(To The Editor) Sir,—In your edition of April 16, under the above heading, Mr E. E. Robinson, Auckland provincial secretary, New Zealand Farmers’ Union, takes exception to certain figures I used in a recent letter to show that farm production was not falling, and he alleged that I was “attempting to use figures rather unfairly.” Your readers will know that this is not my method in controversy, and as a matter of fact my figures were those made available in official publications and were the last at my disposal when I wrote my letter.

Only within the last few days have I been informed of the actual decline in butterfat production in the year 1942-43, its extent being 8 per cent, on the figures of the'previous year. Even with this decline the production last year—due, as most people know, to the dry season —was more than in the year before the war. The figures are as follows: — Year ■ Tons 1938-39 -- --- -- 155,049 1940- -■- -- -- -- 183,658 1941- -- -- — -- 171,151 1942- — -- ■- -- 157,500 Mr Robinson suggests that in my references to the extraordinary production in 1'940-41 I inferred that this was solely due to the favourable climatic conditions then prevailing. This was not my intention because I am well aware of the commendable effort by the farmers during the whole course of the war. Most farmers, however, will agree that, climatically speaking, that year was of a most exceptional character. They will also agree that the profluction figures were greatly helped by the Government’s generous fertiliser policy the year before.

Mr Robinson then infers that the substantial increases in over-all production, which other figures in my letter established, are likely to be offset by the depletion of capital stock. The authentic figures hardly justify his inference. The position may be gathered from the following statistics :— Cows In Milk .1939 -- - -- -- 1,744,000 ■1940 —- -- 1,740,000 1941 -- - -- 1,780,000 1942 -- -- ■ -- 1,777,000 It will thus be seen that the cows in milk in the last of these years numbered 33,008 more than in the year before the war. Dry cows, bulls and heifers were substantially more in the last than in the first of these years. With respect to beef cattle there was a drop, the figures being as under: — 1939 -- -- -- — 737,000: 1940 —- —- —- —- 707,000: 1941 -- - -- -- 084,000' 1942 —- —- 710,0001 There was thus a drop of 27,000 cn the pre-war year. The total of heifers, steers and bulls also dropped by approximately 10,000. There was no drop in breeding bulls. • With reference to sheep shorn there was an increase of 80,0>00 last year over the year before the war, the figures being:— 1939 --- —- —- —- 29,146,000 1942 -- - — - 29,226,000

As to breeding ewes the figure for 1942 was 20,230,000. as against 19,960,000 in 1939. Rams’ also increased in the same period by 16,000, that is from 544,000 to 560,000.

The story as to pigs is that between 1939 and 1942 sows went down in number by 5000 and boars by 2700. Pigs from six months to one year increased by 8000 and those under six months by 5000. It is clear from the above figures that despite the enormous increase in over-all production—nearly 107,000 tons in the last five years—the stock position is satisfactory. • In conclusion: re my figures dealing with the income from butterfat received by dairy farmers since the year before the war, I never described the increase as the net increase. All the same there is a multiplicity of convincing evidences that the farmers are greatly better off than they were before the war began, and certainly that they are in clover compared with their miserable conditions before the Labour Government came into power. —I am ,etc., JAMES THORN. Parliament, 21/4/43.