DAIRYING INDUSTRY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 74, 6 July 1942, Page 5

DAIRYING INDUSTRY

SUBSTANTIAL DROP IN PRO-

DUCTION

CLIMATIC AND WAR CONDITIONS

"The 1941-42 season, now drawing to a close, shows a substantial drop in production, mainly due to unfavourable climatic conditions and to a lesser degree by some farmers going out of dairying because of shortage of labour and other difficulties due to the war," states the annual report of the National Dairy Federation. The 1939-40 season produced 133,303 tons of butter and 93,696 tons of cheese, but for the 1940-41 season increases on these figures were 6141 tons of butter and 25,203 tons of cheese. In buttcrl'at equivalent, the increase was> -0.353 per cent over the previous year. The increase in cheese over butter in 1940-41 was almost entirely due to the efforts to produce the 160,000 tons of cheese requested*by the British Government. The federation, however, reports that "whilst this objective is not likely to be fully attained this season because of poor producing conditions, the effort has been most praiseworthy, and the j present organisation is such that there should be no difficulty in producing the desired quantity next | esason, provided climatic conditions arc normal." Following a 5 per cent increase in award wages of dairy workers, the Government granted a "war cost"' allowance for the 1942t--43 season. The basic purchase price for 1942-43 season was increased to 15.39 d per pound for butter and 8.73 d per pound for cheese, prices representing payments to suppliers of 16.49 d per pound for butterfat for butter, and 18.49 d per pound for butterfat for cheese.