LEVIN DAIRY COMPANY'S ANNUAL MEETING

Chronicle (Levin), 25 July 1946, Page 6

LEVIN DAIRY COMPANY'S ANNUAL MEETING

The annual meeting of the Levin Co-operative Dairy Companyhvas held yesterday in the Century Hall. The chairman of direc^s, Mr. T. G. Yincent, presided over a good attendance, i whic^h included a number of women.

•vi. - An apology for absence was [ received from Mr. S. A. Broadbelt. In announcing. the unavoidable I absence of Mr. Broadbelt, the j chairman said that it was to be j regretted, because if there was a ! man to whom farmers owed an I everlasting debt of gratitude, it j was Mr. Broadbelt. Annual Report The . following report. which had i be.en .circulated. To shareholders j sonie three weeks ago, was present- : ed" .coyering the co'mpany's activi- ! ties-' during the year ended March . 31.. last: — "The previous season's payment for butterfat wTas stated ! at 17.3079d per lb, and that was the | actual payment for the season. ; The appropriation account shows that there is a balance of £41,434 i 8s 9d available, which the directors ; 'propose to distribute by a further j payment of 3.1875d per lb. on ! butterfat supplied during the sea- i json, and by paying income, social I ,and national security taxes. j "During the season we manufac- ! tured 1679 tons 3 cwt. 1 qr. 7 lbs. of butter, compared with the previous ; season of 1434 tons 11 cwt. 1 qr. 12 J ibs., and equal to an increase of 1 17.05 per cent. Had it not been for j the supply of cream ' from Linton, i production for the season wouid have shown a reduction of 7.4 per icent. The spring and early sum- ; mer did not favour production, but the late autumn was good and our district did not experience the drought conditions. The New Zealand decrease in butter graded for export for the ten months ended May 31, 1946, was 17.1 per cent. "The valuation basis for unsold 'stocks of butter as at May 31. 1946, was 15.39d per lb., plus premiumfor quality. The average advance payment for the season was 14.1879d per lb. butterfat, and with the flnal payment of 3.1875d per lb. will make the season's average 17.3754d per lb. butterfat. Farm cost allowance averaging 3.8714d per lb. ! butterfat supplied has been includ- ; ed in the monthly advance rate. These payments total £50,000 0s 8d covering 3,093,954 lbs. of butterjfat. Farm cost allowance of 3.8714d 1 per lb. is not included in the avcr•age payment of 17.3754d per lb. butterfat. ' ■ . *

i "Extensive new buildings havc I been erected at the farm piggeries, • and when completed and irr proiduction we hope to increase the i output of baconers. During the j season 665 baconers were sent 'through- the New Zealand CoI operative Pig Marketing AssociaI'tion, Limited, on consignment, and • we appreeiate the efforts- of this; I co-operative organisation in handling baconers and bobby calves. "A goods rebate of 3d per cent.. Iwas paid' to suppliers for year 'ended May 31, 1 945 W The amount ! charged to butterfat covering the I deficiency ..ih the veterinary I scheme was £353- 9s 3d. Mr. Raymond H. Long, B.V.Sc., commenced duties in September, 1945, and has given good service, and in our • opinion veterinary service is an i essentiai part of the dairying business. 'I "We have pleasure in advising ithat the James Smellie Bursary at ! the Horowhenua College, for j students interested in agricultural ,and kindred subjeets, was finalisect. iMr. Ranfurly Jacob, of Otaki, was • the successful student for the 1945 ! year. ! "During the year the dairy companies, through the Dominion Producers' Co-op. Agency Co., Ltd., ' purchased the merchants' interests in Combined Distributors, and a new ccmpany called Farm Products Co-op, Wellington, Ltd,, has been i formed to handle all the farmers* [produce in Wellington City. 1 "The retiring directors are Messrs. A. J. Gimblett, H. J. : Lancaster and T. G. Vincent, who •are eligible for re-election. As no further nominations have been received we have much pleasure in declaring that Messrs. A. J. Gimb'lett, H. J. Lancaster and T. G. Vincent be elected for the ensuing iterm. You will be required to elect auditors for the company; Messrs. iJ. L. Arcus and Sons and Dempsey and Litchfield offer themselves for

election. i "The thanks of the shareholders are due to the staff for the efficient j manner in which they have carried out their respective duties." j Comparative Statistics I Statistics for the year contained the following information, the cor'responding figures for the previous 'year being given in parentheses: [Number of suppliers 435 (406), 'cream received 7,976,780 lbs. i ( 6 840,4*19 ) , butterfat received 3,099,577.1 lbs (2,656,213.1'j , average cream test 38.857 per cent. (38r831), total butterfat used for buttermaking 3,093,954 lbs. (2,646, 288.1), creamery butter made 3,761,331 j lbs. (3,213,432), over-run 21.5704 per cent.' (.21.4317)*, average grade butter 93.554 points (93-8901 , cream graded finest gradec95-.49 .per; cent. (95.57), cream graded flrst grade j 4. '3 5 per cent. (4.27), cream graded second grade .16- per cent- (.15), butterfat in cream . sold 9,925 lbs. (5,623.1), total chargeS up to f.o.b. per pound butterfat 1.4331d (1.5260).

Manufacturing and Marketing The manufacture and marketing account in,. the balance-sheet showed that' the advance to suppliers was £183,235 4s 7d, cream collection costs £4258 ls 4d, manufacturing charges (wages £2.666 As 2d, materials £7,250 9s, 4d, fuel £412 10s 6d, electric power £519 13s 7d) £10,848 19s 7d, drpreciation £570 ls , id, maintenance and rcpairs

£547 5s 9d,* charges rrom factory to f.o.b.. (freezing and storage £1,969- 11s 5d, railage £1,593 18s 5d, grading £191 7s ld, dairy board levy £316 6s 4d) £4,071- 3s 3d, overhead charges (administration and offlce expenses £1,401 4s ld, audit fee £105, farm .dairy, instruction £151 4s- 8d, directors' fees and expenses £261 19s ild, fire insurance- and rates, £241 16s- 4d, insurance dairy produce to f.o.b. £109 10s 3d) £2,270 15s 3d, to farmers' veterinary service £353 9s 3d, appropriation account: £41,374 8s Od, total (less factory cost allowance £4,053 10s 5d) £243 17s 8d. Receipts were: Export butter saies £162,440 8s, local butter saies £79,730 15s 5d, butter-milk saies £503 14s, cream saies £547 3s 7d-, commission on dairy orders £44 0s 7d, interest account £189 10s lld, penalty on non-shareholders £15 5s 2d, total £243,470 17s 8d. The auditors certified that the v/eiglit of butter made from each pound of butterfat used for the manufacture of butter was 1.215704 lbs., and that the percentage which the weight of unsalted butter manufactured bore to the total weight of butter manufactured was 6.7188 per cent.

Chairman's Re.view In moving the adoption of the annual report and balance-sheet, j which were taken as read, Mr. Vincent reminded the meeting that it was the flrst" for seven years that was not attended by the "drums of war." Although hostilities in the British Empire had ceased, there was still conflict in other parts of the world. He hoped that the powers guiding the destinies of all nations would find a solution of the world's problems that was equitable to all. The flnal payment made to suppliers was one the company and management could be justifiably proud of, continued "Mr. Vincent. He had yet to find -any other company which was able to_pay such a large amount for the season. Although one cheese company had paid 2s 2d, this 1 figure included that for all town supply milk. If this had been done in Levin, the pay-out would hb:ve:' been- in the vicinity of 2s. ' • Mr. Vincent went on to refer to the recent drought, when members o'f the Levin Dairy Cmnpany had offered to take, and in many cases had taken, cattle from Hawke's Bay to graze here, free of charge. This gesture was an everlasting monument to*- the • co-operative spirit in the ■ farming industry. Speaking • of production* Mr. ,Vih,T cent said. that* tlio .company was Indeed fortunate , in:.getting back the suppliers from the Linton and Opiki areas. •. This had enabled overhead costs to be kept down. Only by keeping down overhead costs could a greater pay-out be made. Notwithstanding the irritations to which the industry had been subjected, it had been called upon to supply all the food the world required. There seemed to be a sufficiency of everything in the world to-day other than food. It had to be realised that unless a man ate, he died. As much as •possible miist be pfoduced. In 1943", with 326 suppliers, the effective average production of butterfat per cow was 213 lbs. In 1944, with 325 suppliers, it was 234 lbs. When the number of cows averaging 300 lbs. or over was considered, it must be agreed that there must be an equaliy large number producing i under 200 lb. per cow. Now was 'the time to consolidate their position as a dairying industry by igoing in for the very best type of cow, and the way to do that was through a good bull. If the average lierd was to produce 300 lbs. per cow, rather than 200, the increase in production would be enormous. It was not a target that could not be attained. Although manure may have something to do with it, many. farmers were still able to do it. •

The biggest factor m production, he ccntmued, was climate, and climate had a great deal more to J do with production than topdrcssing. During the year the company was faced with the necessity of reconstructing the whole of the piggeries. The only reason for iiaving the piggeries was to get rid of butter-milk. An up-to-date pig- ; gery was essentiai, and it was hoped that a better return from buttermilk would result from the reconstruction. Since the pig farm had been in operation it had reiturned a nett profit of £12,700 | through buttermqlk.. The real rea|son for a pig farpi was to get rid [ of waste. In the; last two years it fhad been decided, to run the company 's own fafni. It was hoped that it would be as successful as the pig farm.

' Mr. Vincent went on to give an j outline of the development and organisation of the Dairy Producers' Association, and the manner in which it converted the whole syStem of produce marketing from one of absolute chaos, from which merchant interests beneflted, to oue where the producer received any profits made in distributing the produce, which had hitherto gone to the merchants, who did nothing for it. The D.P.A. had thirty dairy companies in Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough and i Nelson represented on it. To pur'chase the Wellington fliitributing | business it had been necessary to find £30,000, and the Pig Marketing Association had sent a cheque of i £27,000 to assist in the payment—

an outstanding example of cooperation. To-day the merchants and the Government had been paid olf, and the only money owing was to the Pig Marketing Association. To-day the dairying industry in Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Nelson and Marlborough provinces. had .absolute control of produce until it reached the consumer — a fact of [which it could be justly proud." | Mr. 'Vincent cpncludecT his address by expressing his "personal I thanks to the other directors and [to the managing-secretary and the [staff. I Mr. Vincent then answered sevleral questions. In reply to one, he isaid that the D.P.A. at present 'handled only butter, but it was [intended to bring other farmers 'in, i provided they were organised p.s co-operative movements. The report and balance-sheet were then adopted by the meeting, which adjourned for limcheon. General Matters After the luncheon adjournment, | it was decided that the directors' j honorarium, and the auditors andj their remuneration be the same as ! last year. The auditors are Messrs. ; J. L. Arcus and Sons, and Dempsey and Litchfield. Mr. Spiers raised the question of j the early collection of cream. He i said that the early rising it re~ j quired did not make it worth while, !• and as a result dairy farmers were] going on to sheep. !

Mr. Vincent said that other suppliers had an earlier collection j than on Mr. Spier's run. The rea- j son for the different times of col- j lection was to regulate the arrival | of cream at the factory, so that it I would go through the factory in a! steady stream. ] Mr. Boddy referred to the . statement regarding people going ! into sheep. The main cause, he J said, was that there were wouid ■ not be sufficient payment for 1 produce until farmers could pay . .competitive rates of wages. Until i then they would go in for ligliter i work. Pressure should be brought to bear by dairy companies to srop the drift of labour and the consequent change from cows to sheep. Mr. Sloane quoted figures to show that many herds were not being milked to-day, and that • other herds had been reduced. Mr. Vincent said that the biggest production had been in the slump years. It was quite understandable that a man should wish to take I things easy when he was getting on in years, and go over from cows • to sheep. Dairy farmers were sell;ing more in way of meat tnan many sheep farmers, and yet they ; had no voice on the Meat Board/ .He show.ed that cows had left one [ idistrict, and gone to another. In 1943-44, there were 326 suppliers with 7947 cows. In 1944-45, with: 325 suppliers, there were 8286. He i , would like to see production go up ; to 2.000 tons, .which was .tfle mpst, efifcient figure for dairy pro'duc- j tion. If there was another slump, 1 however, it would not be long before it was up to 4000 tons. On being asked whether the payment would be increased, Mr. Vincent said that the Dairy Board* was waiting for a reply to its latest representation. There may have been something in the deal made during the recent visit of Mr. Nash to England. It was noped to extend the bulk payment to 1950. The forty hour week was the worst thing that had been done under the present administration. It would cut at the very foundations of the economic structure of the ; country. The main cause of land ' going to waste was economic; in all countries where men had drifted from the land to the cities, it had happened. j

Mr. Wylie contended that the ; guaranteed price was based on j' false statistics, on a survey carried out during the slump years. As a result the farmers were always ai shilling behind a just deal. Mr. Gallagher suggested that the" company have its own bulk supply/ istore, for the use of its suppliers. It would mean a substantial saving in costs. Mr. Boddy supported the sugges"tion. saying that the town fought the country for all it could get, so that the farmers should "go" the town. Further discussion followed, and finally Mr. Vincent said that the ' suggestion would be considered, although at present it should be ; remembered that the job of the . company was to make butter. Before the meeting closed, Mr. .Vincent, paid a tribute to the work done by the managing secfetary, • Mr. J. M. Parsons. He said that ! Mr. Parsons served the company as 1 lno other body of suppliers in New Zealand was served. • ■