52. Mr. De la Bèreasked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the new price for labour being a fixed and not a maximum price, he will confer with the Minister of Food with a view to making the new grain price a fixed price and not a maximum price, so as to enable farmers to pay the new controlled wages?
Mr. HudsonThe new price of 14s. 6d. per cwt. for wheat of millable quality is a fixed price, and I am satisfied that the maximum prices for oats and barley used for feeding, coupled with the free market for barley sold for malting, will enable farmers to pay the increased wages now ruling.
Mr. De la BèreWill my right hon. Friend specially bear in mind the case of oats, because of the possibility that they may not reach the maximum price?
Mr. HudsonYes, Sir; but with the decrease in the amount of feeding-stuffs available from overseas I think it is very unlikely that the price of oats will fall to a low level.