WHEAT GROWING.

North Otago Times, Volume CVII, Issue 17164, 22 March 1927, Page 7

WHEAT GROWING.

fSpecial to Nortli Otago Times.l

FAEMERS' AWKWARD PLIGHT. NEED FOR IMMEDIATE i ACTION,

TIMARU, Yesterday. A prominent mercantile ruan, in conversation with a "Herald" reporter on Saturday, referring to tbe wbeat-groyving industry, said that tbe present agitation to protect'the industry bad caused general interes^, and tbere was no doubt but that the success of tbe efforts to obtain a payable price is a matter of importance to the.publie generally. What with present prices ruling for lamb, wbeat, oats, and dairy produce there was no question but that farmers were, on tbe whole, not making ends meet. This could not go on indeiinitely. It stood to reason tbat wbere a country depended entirely upon its primary produce, the producer could not have money to spend if tbe revenue whicfy he derived was less tban the cost of production. And under such circumstances tbe townspeople must also be affected. It was estimated that on an average it cosF more than 5/- per bushel to grow wbeat, but taking 5/- as a basis, would mean a revenue of 51,750,000 from a 7,000,000 bushels crop, and there was not a section of tbe eommunity wbicb did not participate, more or less, in tbe distributioii of tbis money. Tbe loss in revenue owing to the parteus state of the dairy industry, muet have an effect on the finances of tbe country; and tbe recent utteranee of the Minister of Lands regarding land values, must provide food for thought, even to those who, as a rule, do not display much intei'est in these matters. There could be no doubt but tbat if sometbing were not done very sbortly, unemployment would become more general, and the town would feel tbe pi'ncb to a greater extent tban it had done before. Gould it be imagined, for a moment, tbat if New Zealand were in a position to sbip flour to Australia, the Commonwealth would not do for its producers, wbat New Zealand producers have so far been refused- in the matter of protection? In commercial citcles it was well known tbat New Zealand is tbe dumping ground of tbe world; and as it bad little chance of ever being able to successfully compete against outside countries in secondary products, it surely was necessary tbat tbe primary producers should be given a chance to exist. If sometbing were not done in the very near future, a rude awakeniug would 'be in store for all. Even an increase in tbe price of wbeat would not save all wbeat growers, but it would be the means of enabling tbe majority of tbem to meet tbeir obligations in tbe rbeantime.