BOBBY CALVES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 85, 29 June 1943, Page 5

BOBBY CALVES

NEW SEASON OPENS

RANGITAIKI PL.ALX& POOL

Ihe first consignment of bobby"

calves for the. new season was/ despatched i'rom the plains area yesterday. Returns for the six months t© May .'M show a nett average yieKL" at. gate of 32/11 for heavy and 10/G----for light weight cailve% being; a shilling per head higherj&at for the previous h,alf yeaf., ThiJ "represents the llfglie.s't nclt average payout on record ?in this area. Re- - I, during the season of: the Ajeal trade, was largely respon&|ble for this satisfactory position. S-lA: total of just under 20,000 cdfves went through the Rangitalki. pool in the past season. ~ -the pool system first eaine into operation in this district liv 1933 and it is estimated that a saving of £1200 per annum in transport charges alone has resulted-through its • • adoption, to say nothing of th£ wear and tear on roads entailed bir .. the multiplication of. lorries frag*' & ployed in the clays. For I lie. four years Rangitaiki pool calves hjiye. been hand ■ l)y> Pig Mar- , keting. Avhiclv organisa,ticm was responsible lor the output of 05 pools with a total of 308,362 calves lor the June-November period of 1942. It is satisfactory to note that with the increased number being handled a substantial saving in overhead costs per calf has been effected. Intimate contact between the P.M.A. and the various associated pools is assured by the. inclusion of pool representatives on the association's directorate and Mr C. R. Wilson, that enthusiast on cooperation who was the district's representative last season, has beea renominated, for the position. It is interesting to note that as the result of investigation and of greater care in processing, the netit average weight of trimmed skips has been lifted from' -libs, to 4.(i an increase of over '.half a pound, while at the same time a loss of approximately 50 per cent in certain valuable offals has, been reduced jalmost to vanishing point. • While these improvements in the administrative and processing fields are taking place there appears to be room for improvement on the farm also. At the. annual meeting of local <Jbsbby calf suppliers in March. last, Mr Hastings drew attention to the number of condemned and borderline calves going forwartl, cany of which are a direct loss to the industry. He deplored the sometimes inordinate haste to get calves out of the. way at first possible opportunity, and claimed that more care and attention to feeding could reasonably be asked lor. In this connection he pointed out that the raising of a calf's weight over the minimum standard immediately gave the animal definite value.

FIRST CONSIGNMENT <i!) CALVES DESPATCHED The first consignment lor the season was despatched yesterday, whera some 69 calves were trucked. All indications according to'association oll'icers are for an earlier season than last a feature which* will be Avarmly welcomed by the* farmers.