DOMINIONS’ PRODUCE.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 May 1922, Page 8

DOMINIONS’ PRODUCE.

FINDING NEW MARKETS. POSITION IN THE INDUSTRY. CONFIDENCE IN FUTURE. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wanganui, Last Night. The annual conference of the Welling-ton-Wairarapa branches of the Farmeio’ Union opened here to-day. Mr. HiTgh Morrison, president of the Wairarapa provincial district, in an address to the conference, said: The Chambers of Commerce have been doing good work in impressing upon the Government the importance of finding new markets for our produce, and business men who have been to the East are of opinion that there is a vast field for our frozen meat, dairy produce and apples. Australia has made a start in exploiting the Eastern markets, and has eent a special delegation of business men to investigate the possibilities of the East. If we are awake we should not let Australia steal a march on us in this respect, and there is no doubt that weshould appoint a delegation to investi- . gate these markets, and no time should be lost in doing so. DAIRY PRODUCE. The New Zealand dairy farmer can pride himself on the fact that owing to the up-to-date and efficient methods adopted in his industry New Zealand butter and cheese are second to none in the world. Despite the heavy handicap of the great distance from the market our dairy produce on reaching London compares so favorably with that from other countries that even Denmark, which is always spoken of as in the forefront of dairy produce manufacture, is considering sending a delegation to this country to study our methods. During the present season dairy produce suffered a severe slump in price, and a great number of dairy farmers find themselves in financial difficulties. The effect of the slump 'has been that the dairy farmer, like the sheep farmer, has awakened to the importance of cooperative marketing and the proper advertising of his produce. lam pleased to see that a compulsory pool for dairy produce is being enthusiastically supported by dairy farmers, and I hope they will be able to bring it into operation at an early date. WOOL. The North Islanl farmers as producers of the crossbred wool of the coarser qualities had to face the biggest slump in the wool market. The finer wools, such as merino, which we don’t produce, have maintained a fairly reasonable price. Our crossbred wool at its lowest point was less than half the cost of production. It is a fairly safe estimate worked out by experts that to come up to the cost of production we will have to get between 9d and lOd per lb. for our wool. It has steadily risen from 4d till the average clip now realises 5Ad. Wool will have to realise another 4d a lb. before it is a payable proposition to produce wool. The accumulated wool stocks of the world have decreased during the last 12 months. It is not possible at present to say what the carry-over will be at the end of the season, but the last estimate was about 800,000 bales, and at the end of 12 months there will be very little, if any, old stocks of wool left. Looking at it from the number of sheep in the world, the following are the official statistics: fit 1914 there were 328,7*22,633 sheep in the world, in 1920 there were 256,905,321, a decrease of 71,817.312, which worked out at a clip of 71bs per sheep and 350 lbs. to the bale, means 1,436,346 bales less than in 1914. Considering these facts the outlook over a number ui years ought to be a steady rise in prices. Although wool is so low at the present time the future prospects ought to be fairly bright. An advantage wool has over dairy produce and meat is, that while the latter can only look to England for a market, wool is required by the whole civilised world. It is to be regretted that the Genoa Conference is not meeting so far with the success we hoped for, because it has been the high rate of exchange that has been the chief cause of the low price of wool. If the Genoa Conference is successful and exchange is stabilised in Europe we can look for a fairly rapid rise. If the Conference fails to adjust the exchange the probability is that the rise will not be so rapid.

MUTTON AND LAMB. The season opened with disastrous prices for mutton and lamb, but a sudden rise took place, and saved many farmers from financial ruin. As far as we can see the prospects for next season are fairly bright, as it is expected that England will be short of locally killed meat. For the first time for several years the stores will be practically empty when our next season opens, and a pleasing factor is that there will be little if any of the stale meat on the market which has been so seriously damaging our trade for the last two years. Owing to the climatic conditions and the general suitability of New Zealand for raising fat lambs we have a great advantage over our rivals in this trade. We must see to it that the quality of lamb and mutton exported should be maintained at high level, and the name we. have gained for New Zealand lamb especially jealously guarded. There is no doubt that during the past year we touched rock-bottom for prices for our products. It is only those with experience in farming that can realise the effect the slump has had on the financial resources of the farmer. It will take years for the farmer to establish himself in his pre-war position. We are fortunate that our main exports, dairy produce, meat and wool, are necessities of life and not luxuries, and that we can always find an overseas market for them. On the other hand conditions in Europe are not looking as bright as they might be and trade has not yet returned to normal. With these facts before us it is up to us to move with caution in our business transactions. Farmers are working hard and getting the most out of their farms. Adversity has done good if it has taught us that efficiency, hard work and economy are the only real factors in the solution of our troubles. We can look to the future with confidence.