§ 27. Mr. JOWETTasked the Parliamentary to the Ministry of Food if his atten- 638 tion has been called to the effect on farmers and milk dealers of the price limitations expected to come into operation on 1st April next; if he is aware that farmers in the West Riding estimate that it requires a pack of meal, which costs £3 3s. and 30 stones of hay, which, at 9d. per stone, amounts to £l 2s. 6d., to produce 36 gallons of milk, or a total cost of feeding stuff of £4 5s. 6d., which, with 12s. for labour, brings the total cost for food and labour to £4 17s. 6d. for 36 gallons of milk, and for this quantity of milk, at Is. 9d. per gallon, the farmer will receive only £3 3s.; if he is aware that the farmers complain that they are unfairly treated as compared with milk dealers, who are to be allowed to charge Is. per gallon over the wholesale price, which, after allowing 1d. per gallon for leakage, shows a profit, in the case of a milk dealer who, with the help of a girl, is said to be able to retail 60 gallons a day in Bradford, or 420 gallons a week at l1d. per gallon profit, amounting to £19 5s. a week on 60 gallons a day; and if he will make inquiries into this matter with the object, if the facts are as stated, of readjusting the prices so as to deal more fairly as between farmers and milk dealers?
§ Mr. CLYNESThe summer price of milk to the producer was fixed, with the approval of the Board of Agriculture, after careful consideration of the varying estimates put forward by farmers as to the cost of production. I am advised that the figures mentioned in the second part of the question are abnormal, as regards both labour and feeding stuffs. The dealer's margin of Is. per gallon is a maximum figure, subject to variation by local food control committees. In Bradford, for example, the margin of profit allowed for retail distribution in March is not l1d. but 5d. per gallon, and this has to include the cost of railway transport. I can assure the hon. Member that complaints by farmers of unfair treatment as compared with dealers are not more numerous than complaints by dealers of unfair treatment as compared with farmers. The recently effected adjustment in prices is thought to be fair to both sides, and it is not proposed to vary it.