THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

Shannon News, 27 January 1922, Page 3

THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

“GETTING IT IN THE NECK.”

In the House of Representatives on Tuesday, the Hon. Mr Lee, in reply to a question concerning the hardship which New Zealand poultrymen were suffering through Asiatic egg-pulp being allowed to come in to the country, stated that he would have enquiries made into the desirability of prohibiting egg-pulp, but before pursu- ' ing that course he wanted to be satisfied that there was a sufficient quantity of eggs in the Dominion to meet local requirements. Touching on this statement . a Levin poultryman stated yesterday that some time ago a conference look ;place between representatives of the poultrymen and the Minister on the .pulp question, and a promise was made that when this year’s imports reached the quantity received in the Dominion the previous year, further importations would be stopped, but it appeared, our informant stated, that pulp was 1 coming into the country as freely &s 1 ever. The poultry industry at present, he said, was in a most unsatisj factory state. In the first place theGovernment had fixed a price for wheat- at 10/ per bushel, and on the other hand allowed egg-pulp to he imported, and between the two the business was half lulled. Whilst tne New, Zealand poultryman was paying 10/ for his wheat, it could be got in Australia for 5/3 per bushel, but there was an embargo on, Australian fowlwheat, and cheap teed could not be ! got from that quarter. For some weeks liist eggs had been selling at low rales, do-vim to 1/4 per dozen, a price that was got ago when wfieat was 1,2/ per sack. There were ' numbers of poultrymen losing money and others had dropped out of the industry for the same reason, the result being a fail in production. And yet on top of this-* the Minister states that he must be satisfied there was a sufficient quantity of eggs in the country to meet local requirements betore considernig whether Asiatic egg-pulp should be stopped from coming in. With costly fowl-feed, what chance had the Ideal producer got of competing with the Asiatic in putting cheap eggs' or pulp on the market. Even compared with the Australian poultryman, the New Zea lander was -under a big handicap, and was Trot getting a fair run. If they were allowed some freedom to get Australian wheat, even at 6/ or 7/ per bushel, it - would not be so bad, and ■the Asiatic egg-pulp would not be the menace it was. It looked as if the policy of the Government was to pro text the farmers at the expense ol the poultrymen. “We are getting /it 'in the neck both days,” said the poultryman, “one 7 being, the high price of fowl wheat and the other the Jow price of eggs, not to men tion the Asiatic egg-pulp. 7 ’