KILLING OF PIGS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 216, 23 September 1940, Page 8

KILLING OF PIGS

In reply to arequest from tlie Auckland Provincial Executive of the New Zealand Farmers' Union for details of the killing costs of pigs and other administrative costs in connection Avith the servicing Jof the industry, apart from transport, the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon, W. Lee_ Martin, advised that a rate of .375 d per lb was submitted by the buyers at the commencement of the season as being the average buying cost. This figure was not definitely conceded by the Government, bu the Government did agree to a proposition that 1939-40 charges were not to exceed those of 1938-39. Actual schedule prices offered to pig producers during the 1939-40 season had been definitely on a plane which, alter allowing for advertised processing charges, could not yield buyers a figure ■which would even nearly approach .375 d. "Stepfe acr now being taken to examine the 1939-40 results, not oniy of buyers, but also of the freezing companies," said the Minister, "and in the meantime it is not possible to state either an average figure or an approved scale for buying. In both cases (buying and freezing) the position is under constant con-i sideration by the New Zealand Meat Producers' Board." Disparity in Barley Prices. A further communication was received from the Minister regarding the price of barley meal. A complaint had been made that there was some disparity in the px-icesi quoted in various parts of the country—the Auckland rate, for instance, being £9 15s as against £8 12s 6d in Taranaki. The Minister stated that the importation of feed barlfey .is arranged by the Director of Internal Marketing who has, up to the present, merely fixed the retail selling price for whole barley on an exwharf basis." The Minister was taking up the question Avith the Minister. of Marketing, and he hoped that it might be possible to make an announcement before long regarding the maximum price for barley meal.