On The Land

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 874, 18 January 1930, Page 27

On The Land

Toward Greater Prosperity

Our Pastoral Industries NO better barometer of the Dominion’s prosperity can be fouml than the statistics relative to the country’s pastoral and agricultural industries. A glance through these should be sufficient tonic for the most pessimistic; they show that even though the farmer may be getting lower prices for his produce, his aggregate annual turnover, collectively is steadily increasing. J ’

“In the past the development and prosperity ot New Zealand has been very closely associated with the expansion ot the pastoral industries, and a survey of the Dominion’s resources should convince the most sceptical that this connection is unlikely to be changed in the visible future,’" states the latest bulletin of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. The article shows what the pastoral and agricultural Industries mean to S«w Zealand, and indicates also the steady move toward Increased production per acre which has followed tbu greater use of fertilisers and better farming methods over the past decade. During the three most recent years for which figures are available the official estimates average New Zealand's annual production at £lls millions a year. ot this total the share directly produced from the land may be divided as follows: —

The table shows that the land produces directly nearly 62 per cent, of our estimated total value of production. Agriculture produces 7.4 per cent., dairying 22.9 per cent., and the

pastoral industries, wool, meat, and Its by-products, 31.6 per cent, of this total. In export trade, on which we depend so greatly, the farm industries bulk even larger. Over the same three years pastoral products accounted for 93 per cent, of our total exports, or for an average value of £45.4 millions, per year. The exports of wool, meat, hides, and tallow alone were valued on average at £2B millions, per year, and constitute 56.3 per cent., or well over half of the total exports of the Dominion. Again of the 43£ million acres of occupied land in New Zealand about 10 million acres are in fern, scrub and bush or are barren and unproductive, 31 million acres are in grass, and a little over two million acres are used for all other purposes. Thus more than nine-tenths of our productive land is used for the pastoral Industries. The statistics do not distinguish areas used for different kinds of pastoral farming, but it is well known that dairying is concentrated mainly In districts of regular and abundant rainfall. Over the greater part of the Dominion, particularly in eastern areas, the production of meat and wool, and the agriculture which serves that production, constitute the staple industry. At the present time it employs directly and ptTmanently more than 50,000 people, and it provides, seasonal em-

ployment in shearing sheds, freezing works, etc., for many more. In addition there is a network of more or less closely related trades and industries wholly or partly dependent on the production of meat, wool, etc. In the past the development and prosperity of New Zealand has been very closely associated with the expansion of the pastoral industries, and a survey of our resources should convince the most sceptical that this connection is unlikely to be changed in the visible future. One of the happiest auguries of the future, too, is the fact that, despite the difficulties of the past decade, these pastoral industries have undergone steady expansion, as the following figures show:—•

The table shows a marked increase in sheep and lambs, which reach record figures for 1929, and the Government estimate of lambs for tile present season forecasts an increase exceeding one and a-quarter millions over last season’s record. The total cattle have declined slightly since 1923, but the number of dairy cows has increased. Since there has been a slight decrease in the area of land occupied, in the period covered by the table the figures indicate that a steadily increasing product per acre has been secured. This is the best indication of real progress.

Industry. Value C millions. Paatoral 31.6 Dairying. etc.. .. 26.3 22.9 Agricultural . • .. 7.4 71.1 61.9 All ©Ur s .. 43.9 , 38.1 Total production .. 115.0 mi

(In Thousands.) Total Lambs Total Dairy 1921 .. 1923 .. sheep. .. 23,285 .. 23,081 tailed, cattle. i 9 o:8S 5:iii 1925 .. 1927 .. 1929 .. 24,548 .. 25,649 .. 29,051 31,467 3,504 ii;li t;Iit