The following statement was issued by the National Union of Agricultural Workers on 16th September:
"Broadly speaking we agree with the conclusion that the best contribution agriculture can make to the national plan is through a programme of selective expansion. We also accept that this programme can be achieved with even fewer workers than are at present employed. However, it needs to be stressed that up to the present time the agricultural industry has not been “releasing” workers in the normally accepted sense of that word. Most of those who have left farming have done so of their own accord because they could obtain much better pay and conditions elsewhere.
"It needs to be appreciated that the reduction in the agricultural labour force cannot go on indefinitely, and that the farmers themselves recognise that the supply of workers in some fields of employment is already at danger level in some parts of the country, And it also needs to be recognised that in agriculture a reduction of manpower does not have to be confined only to the employed side of the industry, If farming is to be expected to manage on fewer workers and at the same time improve both production and productivity, the conditions of employment of those who remain will have to be brought into line with those of skilled workers in other spheres of employment.
"If this is not done - and done quickly = agriculture will certainly fulfil one part of its contribution to the plan - that of "releasing" workers for other occupations, But because the "release" will be uncontrolled it could put at risk the expansion and improved productivity which is also looked for from our farms, It could also endanger the prospects of the industry beyond 1970 because present trends show that the agricultural labour force has too few men in the middle-age groups and too high a percentage of non-regular workers, Furthermore the rate of recruitment of young workers is slowing up and the numbers who receive training are not increasing fast enough,"