FARMING NOTES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 29, 16 May 1947, Page 6

FARMING NOTES

BAY OF PLENTY LEADERS HIGHLY IMPORTANT MEETING No more important gathering of •the leaders of the dairy industry in the Bay of Plenty has taken place in recent years than that addressed at Whakatane recently by Mr W. E. Hale, the chairman of the New Zealand Dairy Board. In addition to Mr Hale, there were present Mr A. J. Murdoch, M.P., who presided, Mr C. W. Courtney (secretary), and Mr A. H. Ward Director of Herd Improvement and Technical Adviser to the Dairy Board. Mr Ward preceded Mr Hale on a visit to the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States, but joined Mr Hale in London. Those two formed an interesting contrast at-the Whakatane meeting; Mr Hale the dominant industry leader, and Mr Ward the unobtrusive, fluent, remarkably informed young man, of his late twenties. >. ' ' The immediate purpose of Mr Hale’s visit was briefly outlined by Mr Murdoch. Mr Hale was engaged irr a rapid tour of the whole Dominion to place before the leaders of the Dairy Industry the proposals from the Government: and the Dairy Board, to establish the New Zealand Dairy Industry Commission of seven members to control the sales of dairy produce at'home and overseas. This proposal represented a radical change from Government control as instituted soon after the advent of the Labour' administration in 1935. New Dairy Commission J Mr Hale stated at the beginning that he meant to lay all the facts as he knew them before/the meeting, and to ask for a definite expression of opinion for or against at the conclusion of the meeting. Eor the next _two hours Mr Hale traversed the long negotiations between the Dairy Board and the Govrenment which culminated in

the draft for the Dairy Commission 1 being submitted to the Dairy Industry Conference in Wellington. Mr Hale was not content to tell the meeting that the Board wrote to Mr Fraser, or that Mr Fraser wrote to the Board. He called upon Mr Ward to read the letters referred to so that the delegates could hear for themselves. The speaker said that his Board' was always alive to the possibility of pitfalls, but he personally was satisfied that the offer by Cabinet to agree to the appointment of the Commission with. wide powers—protected by legislation from political interference—was a .genuine offer. After the dairy conference had listened to assurances from the Prime Minister himself, a ■unanimous resolution was carried in favour of the creation of the Dairy Commission. ment for the three members to be appointed from the Dairy Industry; and three to be appointed by the Government! • In regard to the appointment of the chairman it was obvious that the Dairy Industry and the Government were after the same man. Power to Alter Prices ® The Dairy Commission would have the power to fix the price for butterfat to be paid to the producer and that price must be guaranteed by the Government. The £8,000,000 or £9,000,000 at present in the dairy pool would be transferred to the care of the Dairy Commission. The price being paid in the present season would be subject to revision immediately the Commission was formed, and any increase in price would be retrospective for the 1946-47 season. The Commission would have the power to vary the price in any season if conditions demanded an alteration.

Messrs. McCracken (chairman Ttangitaiki), Mr G. Yeoman (Taneatua) and Mr Holmes (Opotiki), gave an interesting account at proceedings of the Dairy Conference in Wellington, and endorsed the statement made by Mr Hale. A number of the delegates from various parts of the Bay of Plenty asked questions, and Mr S. Maxwell had a good day. He and Mr Hale, had a lot to say to one another about the Commission, about the basis of farm workers’ wages,

DAIRY INDUSTRY

and about the basis of the calculation of the accepted basis of 2191bs ’butterfat per cow as the average production. The speakers proved to be in general agreement. On the motion of Mr McCracken, .seconded by Mr Yeoman, the Bay of Plenty delegates unanimously approved of the decision to set up the Dairy Commission on the lines explained by Mr Hale. Conditions Overseas The delegates w;ere then treated to a brilliant review by Mr Ward of his visit to the centres of the dairy industry The following are some of the points made by Mr Ward:— 1. Although at least 2s per pound is paid by the British Government for New Zealand butter, it is retailed to the needy British consumer at from Is 4d to Is 6d a pound. The balance is found by the British taxpayer.

2. Butter is in short supply and likely to continue to be so, but margarine is more than ever a serious competitor. At an important conference of butter experts in London, no one won £5 offered for a competition to distinguish firstgrade margarine from first-grade butter.

3. Seventy per cent, of Britain’s own dairy produce was sold as liquid milk, and the percentage would be greater if the control were lifted. 4. In Denmark the average per cow butterfat production exceeded 3001bs. Denmark had an excellent system of herd improvement which did not rely on pedigree so much as proved type and artificial insemination was widely used with great results.

5. In U.S.A. Mr Ward spent two days with the world famous authority on cows as a milk producer, and saw the plant wherewith this scientist used an udder actually amputated from a cow to be supplied by an artificial heart pumping cow’s blood into the udder. When a pinch of the hormone (which actuates the change from blood to milk) was added to the supply going into the amputated udder a bucket of milk was drawn frdm the udder. This process was kept going for seven hours. Highly important information in regard to feed etc. to produce the blood in the dairy cow has thus been secured and the investigation is proceeding.

A hearty vote of thanks to Mr Hale and others of the visiting party was carried by acclamation.