“Farmers’ Parliament”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 700, 27 June 1929, Page 6

“Farmers’ Parliament”

BRIGHT PROSPECTS IN NORTH N.D.A. Meets at Whangarei 1' (Special to THE SUN) WHANGAREI, Wednesday. RECOGNISED by dairymen throughout the North Island as the “Farmers’ Parliament,” the thirty-fifth annual conference of the National Dairy Association opened at JVhangarei today. More than 400 delegates representing 224 North Island co-operative dairy companies were present. Mr. A. Morton, Egmont Village, president of the association, presided.

I T is fitting that Whangarei should have been chosen as the venue for the conference this year, for it provides yet another indication that the North is entering into a new era of development. Twenty years ago the total production of butter-fat over the whole of the Northern peninsula was little more than 800 tons. During the season just ended this figure was exceeded by at least six individual factories, while the total production from the manufacturing concerns of 23 cooperative companies was approximately 11,000 tons. The history of the North for the past 20 years is one of solid progress. Development during the past five years, however, has been little short of phenomenal, and every indication points to that rate of progress being maintained for many years. The railway has brought cheap fertilisers, and activity everywhere reflects immediate and healthy expansion. Not only in dairying, in all branches of farming there has been a quick response to better methods of pasture management herd control. INFLUENCE OF FERTILISERS “Up to 1920 th« output of our factory,” said Mr. F. S. Tremaine, chairman of directors of the Whangarei Co-operative Dairy Company, “ranged from 148 tons to 340 tons a year. In 1921 our suppliers commenced to use fertilisers, and the response was instantaneous; production jumped to 321 tons, and has shown a steady increase ever since. This season we reached the 1,500 tons mark.” The progress registered by the Whangarei Dairy Company is typical of that shown throughout the whole peninsula, particularly during the last three seasons. "Whangaret welcomes visitors,” said the Mayor, Mr. W. Jones, in opening the conference, “for we want people outside to see the vast possibilities of the North. A party of 320 South Island farmers passed through here last week, and all expressed astonishment at the potential wealth of the district. The fact that Whangarei has been chosen as the venue for the ‘Farmers’ Parliament’ marks a memorable point in the district’s progress. It shows that it is at last coming into its own.” NEW EXPORT LEVELS REACHED “The rate of progress registered by the dairy industry throughout the Dominion last year,” said the president of the association, Mr. Morton, “was the greatest for many years. For the first time in the history of the Dominion exports of butter and cheese were valued at over £20,000,000. This expansion has been brought about, not so much by the bringing in of new areas of country, or an increase in the number of dairy cattle. It was due rather to improved farming methods, and the use of fertilisers.” Should present price levels hold, he predicted that the day was not far distant when the value of the exports would show a further increase of at least 50 per cent. There was a decided possibility, in fact, that production would be doubled in the near future. QUALITY OF DAIRY PRODUCE During the past season the quality of the butter sent overseas had not given room for much complaint. The quality of the cheese, on the other hand, had been subject to investigation following complaints from the London market, and there should be a decided improvement in next season’s output as a result. There was still a considerable amount of talk regarding the possibility of an amalgamation of the Dairy Produce Board and the Meat Board. The speaker was convinced that this would not be in the best interests of the dairy industry, which was today the leading primary industry of the Dominion. A spirit of optimism and a healthy confidence in the future progress of the dairying industry prevailed throughout the whole conference. The feeling was generally expressed that cheap fertilisers and modern farming methods had come to launch the Dominion, and the North in particular, on a new era of prosperity.