ASHBURTON DAIRY CO

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3562, 23 September 1916, Page 3

ASHBURTON DAIRY CO

ANNUAL MEETING

"I'he sixth annual meeting of the .shareholders of the Ashburton Cooperative Dairy Company was held m the A. and P. rooms this afternoon. Mr C. Reid (deputy-chairman) presided, and there was a good attendance ot! shareholders.

Report and Balance-Sheet.

The directors' sixth annual report read as follows:—"The very severe drought experienced throughout the County was responsible for the large decrease in the turnover for the year under review. The quantity of butter manufactured ,vas 202,1601b., as against 401,2771b. in the previous year. Shareholders will notice that the expenses aro correspondingly reduced. The outlook for the coming season, as far as dairying is concerned, is brighter than it has over been in the history, of - the Dominion, and your directors are pleased to report that the cheese .factory at EifEelton is to be opened shortly "and the.output of cheese has been sold at the record price of 9id per lb. f ■ ob. The surplus output of butter feaii also been disposed of to the end of February next at the satisfactory figure of Is 5d per lb. f.o.b. Taking into consideration that last year was a very, lean • one fronr the dairyman's point, j the directors aro of opinion that the position of the company is very gratifying The profit and loss account shows a balance.to credit of £815 12s 2d This, with a sum of £142 9s carried forward from last year, makes a •total of £958 Is 2d, which the directors recommend shall bo dealt with as follows :—(1). That a dividend of 5 per cent be declared on paid-up capital at July 31, 1916—223 13s; (2). That one penny per lb. of butter-fat-be refunded to suppliers who aro shareholdersestimated £670 13s; (3). That the balance (£63 15b 2d) he carried forward. The cheese factory, which was completed in October of last year, was not opened on account of the very dry season and the shortage of feed. This entailed a loss of £11V 19s Id. As prospects point to abnormal prices being paid for fat; the directors propose to Si with this, amount during the oomm<* cheese season. The average pnc& pnid to creani .suppliers for the ypv -was slightly over Is l^d per lb. This amount, .with the proposed bonus, will make the price Is 2Jd. Messrs J. C. h. GrieS, Geo. Harrison, W. T. Lill, W. H. Price, and D. G. Wright, retire fey rotation from tho directorate, but axe eligible for re-election without nomination. There- are three vncan-. els to be filled. The auditor, Mr J. \\- Bowden, A.P.A. (N.Z.), aJso retires, fcut is eligible 'for re-election. The balance-sheet showed that ot a aominal capital of £10,000, a sum of £4473 10s 6d had been called and paicl«r> while the overdraft at the bank Sod at £5666 3s 6d. The total assets of the company were represented to be £11,325 9s 2d. During last year the sum of £9906 0s Id had been paid to milk and cream suppliersi: £763 lbs--3d in.salaries and wages; £907 lls lid for railage and cartage; £159 18s M for coal f£7B 9s 2d for salt, parchment S preWye-s: £151.9s 23! £or butter boxes; for trade expenses, £329 <hr 6d,. for Harbour Board charges/£IOB os 3d- for rents, rates, taxes, and msurVnce £119 14s 2d; for advertising printing, stationery, and stamps, £llb 2s- foi? subscription to South Island ©airy Association, £5 0s 6d; foi-in-terest, £201 6s 9d: for discounts £/l 17s- for repairs and renewals, k*/ x-js 2d-mSing a total of £12,395 10 ? . .On the Receipt side the following.items were shown :_Sales of butter £13,179 13s-Bdj sales-of milk cans £1 Is; sales of butter-milk, £30; transfer fees , <s M The figures show a credit balance Sn" the year's working of £815 12s 2d; Tad tlnl together with £142 9s carried forward from last year's profit and loss account makes a total of ±,900 is 2d to be dealt with by the directors. In moving tho adoption ot the report afl d balance-sheet the chairman said fee was sorry Mr John Grigg, the chairman of directors, was not at tjie S*V He (Mr Reid),considered tho baian.ce-Bheeb was a good one coi> sidea-ine the dry season they nact ptTeTthrougl, The prospects for the doming year were also good. He Jiopod the war would soon be over and that the men away would then return to take up tho industrial work of the country- The dairying mdustry tound .a. large amount of employment ioi the working man, and there was, a great benefit. The more population they had in the County the better, so as to utilise a larger amount of our produce. At tho promt time there was a good market "a Home for -New Zealand Ster, and dairymen had every reason to.be satisfied, lie referred to other produce; such as mutton, from which the producers were not getting.the best returns at present. Ho hoped 2? shareholders- and Bupphors would : .stick to the company .nnd do the best to make it advance. It was. «wing.to the -factory, in their midst that they were getting such good returns for their butter. The company had paid out a vcrv large sum for such a young oompony,* and the prospects .for to -coming year were good The output of butter liad already been sold for Is ..M, and,if the'supply kept up well^they would probably be able to pay Is 3*d fo° butter-fat. The more milk that came to tho factory the better the Return to the suppliers and shareholder W°M?W'J Tnvibr seconded the adoption of the report and balance-sheet.^ . Mr R Clehind asked why this comptm.y did not pay tho same price for butter-tat as other companies. The Chairman n-plied that some companies did not pay as much as Ashburton. ' ' ',-: ■ _, \Jr Clcland said bo knew of a company flown south that was paying jnore. t Tho Chainmm said the. average price for tho month was made up, and the suppliers were paid accordingly. - Ine factory was capable of handling a iarger amount with the same stall, and if the supply increased, the compunv would 1)0 in a position to_ pay ruor'o. He did not think -it fair to compare this company with a private dairy factory- „ .., „ Mr G W l>adley .locreccl w^th tho chairman that it was unreasonable to compare tho company ..with, a private roncorn owned by two or three persons. .The Ashburton Company had to mamtain a large staff. . m^nn/l The Chairman reminded Mr Lleiantl fhat without opposition they would not ISmpanv paid Is 5d this month, and STSffi assure the suppliers of a record price for next month also. _ Mi-W T Lill said that before the 'A"£nrton Company "started he knew

of suppliers who were being paid B£d ppr lb with a test of .33, and when the efoam was sent later to the Ashburton factory the test was .44. It was quite easy, in running a dairy factory, to' i manipulate the returns to make them appear better than they really were. In a co-operative company every shareholder was getting his proper share of tho profits. He considered the outlook for the Black Bridge cheese factory was it. rosy one. The factory was situated in an ideal dairying locality. He considered the time had come when dairymen would have to pay £50 for a cow, because farmers were looking to get every fraction of a penny out of their butter-fat. i

Mr C. Clark asked whether it was proposed to cart tho milk any great distance to the- cheese factory. Tho Chairman replied that the matter had not yet been considered by the directors. Ho understood it was not advisable to cart milk long distances to .cheese factories. The report find balance-sheet were then adopted.

The following directors were reelected:—Messrs J. C. N. . Grigg, G Harrison, W. T. Lill, VV. H.JPrice, and D. G. Wright. Messrs D. Shaw and A. McLaughlau wero also elected to the directorate. This left one* vacancy still to bo filled, and it Vas decided to ask the directors'to/iiinkft fcho appointment. Mr J. W. Bowdcn was ro-appointed auditor.

Mr G, W. Leadloy said two years ago I\ii- T. Bullock 'suggested that the directors should f:eb aside a small sum of money «s an honorarium for the executive The matter was not dealt with at that tiai'e/'as it was considered the company had not sufficient funds. Since then tho company had been prospering, and he considered that the members of tho executive, who gave a great deal of time to tho interests of the company, were, entitled to some* small sum for their services. Ho moved that the .sum of £2f> be set aside for this purpose. !

Mr J. Tucker seconded tho motion, which was carried unanimously.

A hearty vote of thanks was accorded tho.directors n-tvl staff for work done during tbo past year.