FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 June 1921, Page 7

FARM AND DAIRY.

AN UNPROFITABLE EXAMPLE. Speaking at the conference of farmers at Masterton last week, the chairman gave an example of the financial difficulty of farming at present. He said: Let us take the case of a backblock farmer with a good farm carrying three sheep to the acre, which he purchased at the pre-war value of £lB per acre. Assume further that he has borrowed the money at 5 per cent. His annual expenditure, then, is something like this:— £ Interest on £lB,OOO 9 00 Wages and upkeep of himself & man 450 Shearing expenses, say 150 Working expenses 300 Rates and taxes 150 Total expenditure £1950 Such a farmer’s stock would consist of, say. 1000 breeding ewes, 1000 hoggets, 500 wethers, and some cattle and horses, and at the present prices his income would work out like this: £ Wool, say 50 bales ... 250 Cast ewes, say 400 200 Fat wethers, say 500 300 Total £75 0 His loss on the year’s work’ing would therefore be £l2OO.