ASSISTING FARMERS

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19895, 26 May 1936, Page 10

ASSISTING FARMERS

is. . , . i AGRICULTURAL \X'ORIx. | i . ‘ FUTURE POLICY OUTLINED. | , I SUGGESTIONS FROM MINISTER, ; i __ i l Stating his intention to make the EDepartment of Agriculture a far more Ivital force in the agricultural devellopment of the country than it had ever been the Minister of Agriculture (the 'Hon. \\'. Lee .\lariin) outtlinetcii a Egg; ressive oiicy of ins I‘llc 011 ls‘egulationpwhen he visited Hamilton ‘toqlz‘lhe Department of ABPiCUltm‘e' represents the organisation whereht the practical application of my policy as Minister of Agriculture can he ex[pressed," stated the Minister. In its !new director. Mr A. H. cockarne. 1 have a directing officer who 905565555 21 many-angled experience on the needs of the farmer, and l intend to give him reasonable scope for progressn'e de—velopment. The Government's DOIICY its reasonable reward to all who give service to the country. and the service that the farmer renders is to be adequately rewarded. The 1301163 or guaranteed prices, that Will return a reasonably good standard of livins to the farmer who renders eflli-cient service in the production 0! quality soot“. will be his safe-guard in this direction. But I have said the farmer who is emcient." Efficiency in production must be based on sound and progressive practice, which owed its origin to research. investigation and experience, all prop—erly interpreted into farming method. “The vision of the department is to be directed on the real needs Of the farming community rather than into bureaucratic channels that only lead to [inflexibility of thought and action. Perhaps the most; serious factor in the lowering of efficiency is what one may term the farm leakages. and of these, inferiority or quality, is perhaps the most serious. not. alone in the finished lproduct but in all the factors that lead lto its production. crops, stock, methods of management, at times the farmer iliimself, and not infrequently the department itself. Los- ‘l'hrough Din-u. “Co-operation in research, instruction and application will do much to lshut off these leakages, and the department is to be properly organised to play its part. Livestock disease. both organic and otherwise, represent a leakage that is tending to expand rather than contract. Their effect runs into millions rather than thousands of pounds annually. and organised short on the part of the department towards |shutting oi! this leakage must be developed on a far more intensive scale than at present. This disease loss is not merely a matte-r for the veterinarian alone, but involves many other specialist angles. which only emphasises the necessity of ice-operative and co-ordinated eilort." There were many stock diseases that had to be dealt,with by veterinarians alone, but there were others, many of the ailments in pigs, for instance, which resulted in the lessening of carcase value by over ‘2O per cent, which were preventable by the farmer him—self. added the Minister. Sound advice and its application was the remedy, and the application would follow ii? the advice were sound and specific, which was only another way of saying that the farmer was re—sponsive if the urge were made. That urge was going to be made. Many stock ailments, however. could only be remedied by the veterinarian himself. and organised effort in that direction often necessitated State assistance. “I am seriously considering how best this can be brought about.” the Minister said. "To show what can be done with a disease beyond the farmer's control. tuberculosis in cattle in the United States might be mentioned. I have recently seen a letter from a visiting New Zealander, who states that in many or the States the extent of the disease has now been reduced by concerted action to below halt pert cent., and in New Zealand we campan— i sate each year for a greater percentage without any progressive diminution in the disease. i comb-ttlng Ragwort. 1 “Another leakage that must be‘ checked is that caused by noxious weeds. Ragwort is. perhaps, the most significant to the Waikato iarmer. but there are others. The Noxious Weeds Act has been in operation nearly 40 years. and has completely failed in its objective, some say because its provi—sion are not adequately administered; but one feels that it represents an excellent example of regulation preceding rather than following adequate knowledge of how best weeds should be controlled. with the inevitable con—sequence of inflexibility of action. The weed menace is one on which the Department must bring fresh thought and fresh energy. “Diversity in production is another factor of name importance in our future agricultural progress, and my department intends to widen its outlook in this direction. In one phasei .alone. that. of pig products, much re— Imains to be accomplished. This yea: ’the pig has. on the average. added id lpcr in to the butter fat payment. Under proper development it can raise this iigure to ‘.’d or even 3d. Reasonable management is essential. but essential in its adoption is ro~ordinated direcltion, and the department is determined Ito assume real leadership in the in—.dustry.

“Here again, the need for co-Opera-tion in ihought and action 15 obvious. Even now. with the industry only In its infancy. the leakages are widespread—— inferior quality, inferior management. and the undue prevalence of disease. All these must be stopped if the indush‘y is to progress to the point it would." he added. '