FARMING AFFAIRS

Lake County Mail, Issue 38, 25 February 1948, Page 10

FARMING AFFAIRS

As a result of a decision made by the Dominion Council at its meeting last week the Dominion president will wait' on the Statutory Boards with a view to bringing about closer collaboration between them and Federated Farmers. •. The resolution was moved by Mr R. G. Buckleton, who said that the Federation should take the initiative in securing closer liaison with the boards; a view supported by the seconder, Mr P. P. L, Dillon, who said that too often there was antagonism shown between the boards and the federation. For years he had been working to secure closer relationship between the boards and the national farmers’ organisations, said Mr W. W. Mulholland. It had taken a long tipie for concrete developments to occur, but as a result of the action of the present chairman of the Dairy Board (Mr W. E. Hale) the Dairy Industry Council was set up and on that the federation was represented. There was further room for improvement, hoAvever, and he believed that regular and routine meetings should be held between representatives of the boards and of the federation. In the opinion of Mr G. A. Walsh, the Meat Board had the closest contact with the Meat and Wool section. Nothing the council could do, could make that any closer. In some comments on the matters set out in the agenda, the Dominion president (Mr W. N. Perry) raised the point that there was an important principle involved in various actions of, the boards making decisions on matters such as the withdrawal of fertiliser subsidies. The boards were elected in the first place to deal with commodities and not to represent the farmer in dealings with the Government on matters other than those connected with their own commodities. That was obvious, said Mr Perry, by the fact that the Government had representatives on the three boards and it should not, therefore, negotiate with itself. That was the crux of the matter and Mr Perry considered that it should be raised with the boards. The federation should insist that the boards performed their functions in accordance with the terms of their Acts. The boards should leave the job of representing the farmer to the federation. The fact that the boards were the custodians of the stabilisation accounts tended to cloud the issue, but the federation had to concern itself with the principle. The statutory boards should not deal with matters of general economic policy affecting farmers.