BULLY BEEF MYSTERY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 31, 20 March 1942, Page 4

BULLY BEEF MYSTERY

NO MONEY IN POTTERS"

"Is "bully beef" what it used to be? Whakatane farmers are wondering, because their "potter bulls" which a year ago were worth £5 to £10 cannot be sold for as many shillings. For the benefit of those unacquainted with the meat trade it may be explained that a "potter bull" is a bull which finishes its life at the meat works where it is boiled up and put into tins. Such used tot be the sad fate of all superannuated sultans of the dairy herds. But now there are no buyers for surplus bulls. Most farmers in the Bay of Plenty are now carrying a bull or two which cannot be sold. So there are tons of bully beef on the hoof that have been given a reprieve for the time being—perhaps for "the duration." This is a distinct loss to farmers, both as regards the £5 or £10 they expected to get for their "potter bulls," and the grass and hay which these surplus animals will eat up from now onwards, not to mention breakages of fences for which bulls are notorious. In former years it used to be said that the meat canners wanted "potter bulls" to mix up with the other beef which w r ent into tins. The attractive jelly found on emptying a tin of meat was said to be the result of boiling up fat bulls along with the other beef. Nowadays the meat trade is rigorously controlled. There is space in the cool stores for only so much meat. Only the highest priced meat is exported, so it is said. On the other hand there may be householders who on counting their change after paying for the Sunday roast I of beef may be doubting the statement that low-priced meat is not exported. But Avliatever the real or supposed reason, it is certain that the market for potter bulls has fallen to zero, and Bay of Plenty farmers are out of pocket over it. So what about an agitation for "more bulls in the bully beef tins?"