N.Z. Dairy Farmer Urged to Prepare Carefully

Chronicle (Levin), 10 August 1946, Page 7

N.Z. Dairy Farmer Urged to Prepare Carefully

IXemand for New Zealand 's staple food- exports are likely to reinain sound for the next- tliree years, witli butter keeping firm 'rather longer than cheese. After that the position will not he so secure, and.it is imperative that in the interim i'armers should prepare carefully for the future by reducing production costs, impi'oying quaiity, diversifying the nature oi' their products, establishing new markets and intensifying scientific re'search. Tliese ait the conclusions reached in the following article by Mi\ D. E. C. Saxton, nuinaging editor of the Taranaki Daily News, after surveying the food situation in Great Britain and dn the Lontinent. •

Cheese should be in flrin demand untiii at least 1948, meat uutil 1941) and butter untU 1950. j JJeuiuark sul'fered a loss of only ap- i proximateiy 5 per cent. of her stock; duriiig the wai', but her production of! butter is down by approximately 40 per cent. owing to her inability to iinport artilieial stock foods. Holland has been similarly all'eeled, but to an even groater extent. This, added to the vir-J tuai eliiuiualion of tlie Baltie States in- ; deiinitely .as a supplier of dairy produce j to Britain, appears to ensure a steadyj dcmaml for Xew Zealaiul butter for tlie: next four years. This doe.- not aliei the fact that there should be no eomplaeency in the dairying iudustry regardiug the future. riverywhere in Britain today butter and imw'ganno are ■ on sale in the retail shops at Is (id and 9d a pouml respectively and are strictly rationed. Yet on a free market margarine would probably be '-olliug at between Hui and a shiiling a ponnd, and butter at about 2s 4d. This means that margarine is heing suiisidised by tlie British Boveruinent to the exter.1 of say 2d a puund and butter lOd a pound. Consamption Compared. Book at ihe future froni another angle. In 1054 the consiuui'tion of niargariue in Britain was 1(54,000 tons, equi'valent to 7.9 1b per liead of population ]ior annuiu. In 1945, the consuniption, inclusive of allied fats, was lt)0,000 tons, equivalent to 17.2 1b per liead of ])opulation per auiiuni. In 1054 the eonsumpt iun of butter m j Breat Britain was equivalent to 25.21b I per liead per annuni, and by 1945 it had j dronped to «S.(>1 1 » per head per annuni. 1 i iiave tasted both butter and margarine j I'recpiently, and I defy the layman to | tell the dill'ereuce between tlie two pro- ! duets. i Tlie cheese prospect is not as encouri aging as that for butter, and though all | ihe cheese Xew Zealaiul can maiiufac i ture will lind a market at. the eontraci ; priee for the next tew years, it is quite possible that Britain will iudicate in 194S that she does not require more ' than '1 Oi 1,000 tons of cheese. Lesson to bs Learned. j 'Ihe lesson to l>e learned t'rom all this i is that though inmiedinte prospects are | briglit Xew Zealand would 1 »; making ja disast rous mistake if she considers ! the country's economy can safely be S bas^d for'tlte next- f)0"ydars oft flie butter aiul t'heddur cheese exports to Bri1 taiu that have sustained it so stoully ' in the past. A greater variety of the 1 products of mi 1 k should lie produced, and new markets should be sought and : develojied. lf Xew Zealand does not go forward with vision, entorprise and initiative she will go baek. The goods inust be produced wliich the consumer wants, not whai tlie producer tliinks the consumer ought to want. Milk powders, sugar of inilk, ice 'cream pack, milk and cocoa mix are

typical solid by -products of milk whic.h are in vastly increasing demand, with almost unlimited potentiality. But the economie manufacture of these artieies requires substantial capital — more substantial than individual daiiy compauies can provide. Grouping of Companies. It may welJ be that in the long-rerm interests of the dairy farmer dairy companies may need to group to jiro l ice artieies of the type mentioned An al1 ternative would be to permit private J concerns of substantial standing to ' undertake some ot' this diversiiied miui- ' ufacture. " llow can I break into the co operative Jield in Xew Zealand?'' is a (juestion that has been asked more than once in Britain recently by iirmly established proprietary concerns, and the answer is tluit they cannot uniess the Xew Zealand dairy fanners want them_to. Granted that the eo-operative system in X'ew Zealand is excellent in aliuost every way, ' the poiut arises whether everything should be sacriliced to mahitahi it. lu otlier words, if eo-operative ell'ort eaunot or is unwilling to meet the cliaugi'ng conditions and spread the dalry produce eggs through more baskets than contain tliem at present, should , not someoue else who is willing be given the opportunitv?

Wrapi>ed up in the more or less near future of butter and cheese is the tjuestion of liow loug bullc trading between Ctoveruineiit and Go\ernment is to continue. Although in war this was essential, and the contracts just made by Alr. Xash will perpetuate the system for t'rom two to four years, there are dangers in this bulk trading. The iirst is that Xew Zealand is not able to pass on direct to tlie public hei comparatively low costs of production. Xormally (50 per cent. of Xew Zealand butter and cheese goes 011 to the market as "Xew Zealand'' and 10 per cent. isi blended. Under bulk trading tlie tendency is more and more to combine im- j porfations fl'om all sources and sell j tliem merely as butter and cheese. Keasonably good as the prices are for i the new contracts between X'ew ZeaI land and Britain, Bi'itain simply must augmenl her supplies t'rom eisewhere, aiul il is probable that the price Britain is f'orced to pay Denuiark and Holland duriiig tlie next year or two wili be heavily in excess of the conlract iprices-.with X'ew Zealand, Australia, and t'anada. Bhould the higli British suil- j ! sidies be reduced or removed, it is ob- ! j vious that in the general retail price j •Xew Zealand would not get the beuelit of her lower production cost. ! Allied Danger. j Another allied danger in bulk trading is tlie loss of good will entailed in Xew; i Zealaiul 's not being able to undertake | i her own distributioil in Britain. So niuch for butter and cheese. Heal 1 should be sound at least- ' until 19-19, 1 wlieu the new meat contract expires. j Oue of the important factors is the! severe reduction in Argentiiie stockI duriiig the last year or two, and otlier i ' troubles in that country. j I11 spite of tlie large stocks of ivool ; j throughout the world, there is liow an I I exlraordinary demand for the llne : ! grades, and it is possible that in the j i liear future the prices for Australian ; | and Soutli African wool will be almost, j t'antastic. The demand for the coarser. ! Xew Zealand wool will not be so great, i and it seems impeiative that Xew Zea- | land should be prepared to spend a subI stantial sum 011 scientific research iuto . wool.