Over-fat Lambs Already

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31198, 24 October 1966, Page 8

Over-fat Lambs Already

Concern is being felt in meat industry circles about over-fat lambs. Only small numbers of lambs came into works last week for slaughter, but already some have been classified as overfat. For these a sharply reduced price is paid.

“We are rather surprised that there are so many overfat lambs,” said Mr J. T. Fogarty, an assistant general manager of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company, on Friday. On Thursday between 2 and 2| per cent of lambs killed at the company’s Belfast and Fairfield works were graded over-fat. “I think that farmers have to realise that they must draft more often,” said Mr Fogarty. Mr T. C. H. Miller, South Island manager for Borthwicks, and Mr A. R. Watson, district manager for the com-

pany, concurred with the remarks of Mr A. F. Wright, vice-president of the meat and wool section of North Canterbury Federated Farmers, published in “The Press.” Mr Wright said he believed that farmers would have to be encouraged to draft more frequently. Doing Well

Mr Watson said that lambs everywhere seemed to be doing well. If farmers held their lambs under these conditions to take them to heavier weights they could run into the over-fat problem. If they wanted to avoid over-fat lambs and killin gspace congestion later in the season, then they should draft more often. Mr H. N. Davis, an assistant general manager of the New Zealand Refrigerating Company, said that over-fat lambs seemed to be present in quite high numbers —there was a significant proportion of them.

Regardless of weight, the over-fat lamb is currently worth 81d a pound for meat and pelt. For meat and pelt

only, an over-fat 301 b lamb is worth 21s 3d—but a prime or second quality lamb of the same weight is worth 37s 6d for meat and pelt. All works reported that lambs were coming to hand slowly. Mr Fogarty said that there had been no killing at Belfast or Fairfield on Friday. There would be no killing at Fairfield tomorrow, but Belfast would be working that day. At Borthwicks’ Belfast works the kill has been at a similar pace to this time last year, but it was then a great deal slower than in the previous season. Lambs have also been slow in coming into the New Zealand Refrigerating Company’s Islington works.

Dairy Merger.—The two largest co-operative dairying concerns in the South Wairarapa, the Featherston and the Central Wairarapa Co-opera-tive Dairy Companies, have amalgamated as the Wairarapa Co operative Dairy Company.