WHEAT PRICES.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 February 1919, Page 7

WHEAT PRICES.

10ur Special Correspondent.)" Wellington, Feb. 22. i'our correspondent &sked the .Minister for Agriculture to-day if the estimates prepared, by Ma Department of the wheat yield would have any effect upon the price already announced by the Government. Mr MaaDonald said that the price already named, 8s Cd a bushel f.o.b. for good milling wheat, was tlie decision of Cabinet and he regarded it as final.

The figures prepared by the Department, on the basis of the reports furnished by field inspectors, said the Minister, showed that the average yield per acre this season was 28.32 bushels, as against 24.23 bushels last season. At fis fid per bushel the farmer would have a return of rather more than £9 4s per acre, and the Minister considered that fhis was a payable price. Some farmers would have a better return and some would not do so well, but the Government had to deal in averages. The Minister quoted the average yields and average prices of preceding years as follows: .

It may be mentioned in this connection that during the last session of Parliament, in the Address-in-Reply debate, the Minister for Agriculture quoted with apparent approval some figures that had been prepared by the director of Lincoln Agricultural College bearing upon the cost of producing wheat. The director estimated that after allowing for all charges, including interest on cost of land, taxation, rates, tillage, cutting and threshing, a '25bushel crop of wheat cost the fanner £8 3s, or 6s 6d a bushel. A4O bushel crop he estimated would cost 5s per biwhsl. These figures do not suggest that the average yield of the present season leaves much of a margin for the grower.

Average price Year. i Average yield per buBhel 1910-11 ... 25.73 3s 6Jd 1911-12 , , 33.69 : 3s 8d 191-2-13 3s 9d 1913-14 , , 27.2S 4s 5d 1914-15 .... ...: 28.94 6s 2d 1915-16 ,... ... 21.59 4a lid 19H6-17 23.19 5s 9d 1917-18 .... 24.23 '' 6s 4d