STOCK LOSSES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 41, 18 January 1944, Page 5

STOCK LOSSES

SHORTAGE LOOMING

PROBLEM FOR SOLDIERS

The. heavy loss of I'c.male ciairy, stoc'k now taking place in the Dominion, owing to* the shortage of labour on dairy farms and the consequent disposal of calves- through the bobby pools;, threatens to create a severe 1 shortage which will affect more particularly those servicemen returning to the Dominion in the hope of, embarking 011 farm ownership. This view was expressed at a meeting of the executive of the Gisborne. Returned Services,' Association, held j>n Wednesday evening, when proposals, for conserving at least a portion of the present surplus. of female stock were discussed. It was felt that unless some such action was, taken at this stagei, the already substantial fall in the cow population would become a serious obstacle, to rehabilitation in its later and more wholesale "phases. The executive, received from Mr l\ Robertson, who was present by invitation., an outline of a scheme which he considered would be acceptable to the. owners of surplus stock, and which would provide for the needs of soldier-farmers coming on the market in 1915. He pointed out tliat herd testing groups' statistics showed, a startling reduction in the number of cow* being milked, and that surplus stock was being sent off on the bobby calf trucks be-, cause farmers found it inconvenient, if not impossible, to handle it on thei farms. When the influence of the Returned Services' Association behind the scheme, 'Mr Robertson said, it should be possible, to .secure some hundreds of female calves from proved producing lines, carry them over until they come to profit, and then make them available to soldier settlers taking up land in the district. If some such action was not taken, rehabilitation would be hampered by ceiling prices for stock. The. executive discussed the. proposals at length, and agreed with the principal of Mr Robertson's scheme,, though finance and ether factors presented obvious difficulties. As an outcome of the discussion, however*,. it was decided to invite the co-operation of lexiding dairy farmers and others interested in rehabilitation and land settlement in drafting further proposals. A subcommittee was appointed to organise a meeting at an early date, in order to take full advantage of the lext calving season to secure wha iiock might be required.