PAYOUT OF OVER ls. 8d. FOR YEAR

Chronicle (Levin), 31 July 1946, Page 6

PAYOUT OF OVER ls. 8d. FOR YEAR

KUKD-MANAKAU DAIRY COMPANY REVIEWS ITS . OPERATIONS i „ The tenth annual meeting of the shareholders and suppliers ot the Kuku-Manakau Dairy Company was held in the.Manakau Hall on Monday, when a successful year's - business was reviewed. There was a fair attendance, the v-- chainman of the-bpa^-d of directors, Mrl Ivo Bertram, pre- ' sid-ih'g'. "f - ' '

-> Bidectors' Reyiew V-The direct'prs' report lor the year ehcled May 31 last was read as fol;lows : "The actual season's average pay-out per lb. oi butterfat all grades, wnich was flnally paid out, for the twelve months ended May 31, 1945, was the amount estimated in the report last year, viz., 19.733d per lb. butterfat tali grades ) . The average pay-out for all grades of cream for the year ended May 31, 1946, was 16.984d per lb. butterfat (all grades). The balance in the appropriation account of £14,342 11s 9d will enable a flnal average pay-out for ■ ihe season on all . grades of 3.75d ! per lb. Tbis will make a total payj rnent of 20,714d per lb. butterfat | over the season. | "In comparing the statistics of j i tliis year against last year, sup- . i pliers will note a slight drop in the i , amount of flnest cream and also ! i gradings, but, due to the season, j l ehis slight drop has occurred over j i the whole of the Wellington Prov- , I ince. The directors have still car- | ) ried out the policy of making the : final pay-out as much as possible, 1 consistently with taking into | I account the need for making pro- i ' vision for all necessary deprecia- 1 tion on buildings and plant, etc. It is this long-sightea poucy which lias reasonably conservcd the , assets of the company, which to- ' day are quite substantial. i "We wish to notify the suppliers that after very caref ul considera- i tion the directors have purchased | a seetion on behalf of the com- ! pany, with the object of establish- | liig a pig farm on the Kuku Beach 1 Road. The purpose of this farm is , to utilise the butter-milk from the factory, which throughout the last season went to waste; the object of the directors is to turn a present i liability into an asset for the com- : ing years. "The total amount of cream , cartage incurred by suppliers ' individually is £273 7s ld, which i represents .C72d. per lb. on the total . number of the pounds of butterfat received by the company in cream from all scurces. The total buttcr ! manufactured by the company for ' the past year was 493 tons 2 qrs. | 16 lbs. The equivaient tonnage of ! butter in cream sent to Kairanga i and Wellington, also milk sent to ! Wellington, was approximateiy 151 1 tons, so that had all the supply | been received in cream and manu- ! facturea into butier, the approxiI rnate tonnage would have been 644 j tons. It is unforcunate that win- ! ter milk absorbs quite a large j amount of the butterfat from the I facfcory's point of view, but., howI ever, thei factory 's loss is the indiy- ' idual supplier's gain.

! "The average grade for export j butter was 93.50 per cent. This! l is considered quite satisfactory, as this season was not so good for j grading as last season. The pay-j j ments from the Marketing Depart- ; j ment were distributed each 111011 th I with the supplier's pay-cut. From ; •June 1, 1945, to July 31, 1945, the. | amount of 2.887d was paid on 1 12,002 lbs. of butterfat. From Augi ust 1, 1945, to May 31, 1946, a pay- ' ! ment of 3.904d 011 897,918 lbs. of ! butterfat." * • Comparative Statistics The 'foiiowing iniormalion was ; | given in the statistics for the year, ; ! figures for the previous year being ? i given in parentheses: — Pay-out ; previous year per lb. butterfat (19.733d), advance 16.964d, estim- ; atea surplus 3.75d, farm costs 1 aliowanee 3.904d (2.887). number of | suppliers 211 (194), total lbs. of [ ! cream received 2,318,502 (2,333,765),; 1 lbs. of butterfat received 909,920 | i (917,113), average cream test 39.24 139.29), total lbs. butterfat used for j butier making 908,105 (915,678), lbs.! of creamery butter made 1,104,392 (1,111,678), over-run 21.G1 (21.40), j average grade of butter cf export 1 93.50 (93.58), cream grade per cent- , ages: finest 91.802 (93.78), first 8.057 (6.11) , second .141 (.11) , lbs. butterfat in cream sold 1,815 (1,435), total charges up to f.o.b. per lb., butterfat 1.976d. (1.967d). j Mamifacturins" and Marketing 1 The manufacturing and market j accounts in the balance sheet jshowed that the advance to supI pliers was £64,314, -7s lld, cream i and milk collection costs £1388 3s ' •lld, manufacturing charges (wages 1 £1^49 Xl6s 9d, boxes £1706 6s 5d, ' makrials £583 8s ld, fuel £326 0s j 2d, pawer £212 4s 5d, £4177 15s lOd, ! depreciation £743 2s 9d, repairs and I inflintpnanc.fi £169 ls lOd. charges

j factory to f.o.b. (cartage and rail- 1 age £5$0 8s 2d, freezing and stor- : age £522 ls ld, grading charges £50 | ' 8s 8d, Dairy Board levies £92 16s 1 ' 6d £1245 14s 5d, overhead charges, ! (interest on overdraft £45 16s 6d, ' ! less interest on fixed deposit £10 1 { 3s) £35 13s 6d, administration and; . office expenses (less Wellington ! milk levy £293 2s 6d) £374 14s 5d,j insurance and rates £134 7s 8d, , insurance to f.o.b. £30 3s lld, audit! fee £52 10s, farm dairy instruction; ! £10 14s 7d, directors' fees £171 8s ; ; 7d, simdry charges £155 7s 3d, total I (less - factory costs « aliowanee | £1195 14s 9d) £71,807 11s lOd. Receipts were: Export butter saies £43,496 19s lOd, local butter saies £27,798 11s 3d, cream saies (Kairanga £10 12s lOd, Wellington Milk Department £188 10s 5d), £199 3s 3d, general irents) £2, nonshareholders manufacturing char- , ge £39 5s 7d, dividends on shares

£28, balance carried down £243 5s lld, total £71,807 11s lOd. The auditor certified that the weight of butter made from each pound of butter fat was 1.2161 lbs., and that the percentage which the weight of unsalted butter manufactured bore to the total weight of butter manufactured was nii. ' Chairman's Comments In moving the adoption of the report, accounts and balance sheet, the chairman said that it was ten years since the amalgamation of the two companies, and they had been ten years of progress. It liad proved a very good day for the disnriet when the amalgamation was made, and to-day the benefits it had brought were much clearer. It would be hard to say how the j district would have survived other- I wise. The dairying industry was j progressing here; the total amount : of butterfat handled showed an 1 increase on those of the last two | years. He believed that they were i the only company in New Zealand uiat could show such an increase, ; which was a very creditable effort indeed in view of the shortages of labour and other factors. Mr. Bertram went on to express his sym'pathy with suppliers in other areas, which had been affected by the drought eariy in the year. There had been an overall drop of 13.4 per cent. in Dorninion production. Britain and Europe were still feeling the effects of the food shortage. He felt that it was the i bounden duty of farmers to produce all they could for Britain, and Europs too. They could only do : something worthwhile by producing fats to the greatest extent possible. Since -the end of the war, the ileaders of the dairying industry had been pressing for increases which should have been made before the Government's stabilisation policy had been introduced, ; said Mr. Bertram. However, the ; industry had supported the policy, ■ as a war measure. At the time, it ; was 'pushing' for a .78d increase in prices to cover the reduction made ! arbitrarily, and for 110 apparent reason, by Mr. Nash. There were other claims to cover increased costs being made also. It had been a major move forward by ihe industry- when.- The price, uvas- » tied to costs. The 'time would come when competition in the overseas markets would have to be met, and then costs would have to be met, and then costs ' would have to be , cied to prices, especially in hard . cimes.

The grading was a credit to the manager and staif, altnough conditions were not the best for making high grade butter. Graders were trying to improve the grade, so that our butter would be able to stand competition as far as quality was concerned. Land cress was tne biggest factor in reduction of the grade. Suppliers should if possible Keep their herds off land where cress v/as growing until it was cleaned up w'ith sheep, or notify the manager, so that the cream would not go into butter manufacture if it was necessary to graze herds on land where cress was growing. The flavour was not always discernible instantly, and one suppiier could easily ruin the whcle outfit.

During the year the company had purchased a farm adjacent to the factory, proceeded Mr. Bertram. It would be operated as a pig farm to deal with buttermiik. iik outiermilk was formerly sold under a contract, but the contractor was ' no longer able to carry on with the DUttermilk and no other suppiier could be found who would use it. In oider to dispose of it, it had to ! be ploughed in at considerable cost. The larm purchased was 28-i acres, and up-to-dai'e . piggeries were being built on it. The company had 1 tried to deal with the buttermiiK m - dome other way, but it couid not be ! done. The pig farm would evenruj aliy show a smail margin of proiit, 'whereas ploughing the buttermiik I in meant a dead loss. 1 Mr. Bertram went on to outiine | the development of the Farm ! Products organisation and tne ! Dairy Producers' Association. The ' D.R.A. consisted of 32 dairy comipanies exporting through the Port ! oi' Wellington, and also deait with produce sold in Wellington. The i D.P.A. had closed the door to

opposition in the Wellington market from certain South Island ! companies. At the stage when the | association was about to buy outj the controlling merchant interest j in Wellington, the Government j stepped in and the Internal Mar- 1 keting Division handled the pro- j duce.- Similar organisations had been set up throughout the Noruh Island. Thirty-two companies combinea to buy out the Government interest, and since then the Combined Distributors were let in, and later brought out, so that produce was how handled completely by the Wellington Farm. Products organisation. The Tararua Farm Products organisation, comprised of dairy companies in the Wairarapa and Horowhenua districts, would control the sale of produce in this area. The Combined Distributors ^tade a profit of £22,000 last year. 1 The 32 dairy companies would | operate ' more economically and

show a greater profit. . Tffe. farmers would receive a four per "c.ent. return on their capital. The whole of this would go back into the dairy companies. It nad been a wonderful step forward, and a sign oi the consolidation going on. The dairy industry had never been strohgerthan to-day, and its leaders were all outstanding men. It would need all that strength in the future, Mr. Bertram concluded, for there were many hard battles ahead. Strength would be needed to press their just claims with the Government. General Discussion ' : 4" Answering a question by Mr." W. J. Galloway, the " chairman ! said that the control "and management of the pig farm . had been so arranged that the farm was leased to Mr. Burt, of Kuku. Applications had been called for, Mr. Burt being the successful one. Mr. Galloway questioned the board's authority to make such an arrangement withoiit an expression of opinion from the shareholders Mr. Bertram replied that other companies relied on their directors to make such decisions on their behalf. It had been necessary to establish the piggeries with a-mini-rnum of delay. He felt that the action came within the scope of the board. t Mr. C. E. S. Campbell referred to the complaints of "off" butter from the factory. I Mr. Bertram said that the butter "off" at a short part of the [season, due to the poor cream. ! Mr. Galloway said that butter jfrom Woodville was being sold in 1 Otaki. i The chairman explained that the i amount of Woodviile butter com- . ing into Otaki was very small, and j did not compare in grade with the j company 's butter. ; Mr. R. L. Robinson said that if freight was paid thev could not prevent Woodville butter coming into Otaki. There were a small number of people in Otaki who •specially requested Woodville but- | ter. , Mr. Campbell complained of the i collection service for the Waikanae 'and Paraparaumu suppliers. The chairman replied that suppliers in the Manakau area actually subsidised the cartage in the areas referred to. The Paraparaumu cartage was the most expensive in the company's arup.. [Therefore, the levy of 2d was ohly nominal in view of the cost to the ccmpany. After further discussion on the matter, Mr. Galloway moved that the chairman give personal attention to the cartage situation in the southern ward.

Mr. R. Hooper, director for the ward, said that he had done his b'est for suppliers in his area, and had always brought any complaints before the board. The motion was seconded by Mr. Campbell and passed. Mr. Galloway said that it was part of directors' duties to see that , everything possible was done to get a gocd, price for produce,-" and.;yet; 'there 'was 110" record ofj "Massrsk Hegg or Hooper being associated with the protest made against the ; reduction made by Mr. Nash at aj oonference of wjards in Palmerston J North. Mr. E. Hcgg replied that he would have been only too pleased to attend tlie conference. but at the time he was in Hamilton at a conference of the Nalional Dqiry Association. It was usual for the chairman to attend and pass the information on to the directors, Mr. Bertram said that the pro-

test had the full support of the company, although perhaps not on the public platform. He was not able to attend the conference, but nad the company's case t-aken to ,he Dairy Board. Directors and Auditor Messrs. E. Hogg, L. Barkia and R,. Hooper were then re-elected to >e directors, there being no other lominations. Mr.. J. S. Moir was re-elected tuditor. The directors' remunera- ]• ion was fixed at £150 plus social ; ecurity tax, the same as for last Tear. . ;