LEVIN DAIRY COMPANY'S YEAR

Chronicle (Levin), 24 July 1947, Page 8

LEVIN DAIRY COMPANY'S YEAR

INCREASE IN ADVANCE TO SUPPLIERS; PRODUCTION BELOW PREVIOUS SEASON

The anriual meeting of shareholders of the 1/evin Co-o.perative Dairy Co., Ltd., was held in Levin yesterday. t • , The, chairman of directors, Mr. T. G> Vincent, presided, , , The aiinual review of activitres showed that the advan'ce to suppliers for the past year totalled 22.4'914-d. per lb. of butterfat, as against 21.2468d. last year. The .company's production' this year shows a decrease of 119 tons of butter. 1

Past Year's Work During the season ihe company had manufactured 1559 tons 17 cwt. 2 qrs. 20 lbs. of butter as compared with *1679 tons 3 cwt. 1 qr. 7 lbs. the previous season, a decrease equal to 7.64 per cent, said Mr. Vincent in bis annual report. "The spring and early summer did not favoUr increased production, and the supply of milk to Wellington City commenced earlier than last year, Which has had the eifect of decreasing the quantity of butter manufactured. "The valuhtion basis of unsold stocks of butter as at May 31, 1947, was 15.:39d per lb., plus premium for quali'ty. The average advance payment for the season was 13.9826d per pound of butterfat, and with the final payment of 3.4375d per pound, will make the season's average payment 17.4201d per pound of butterfat. Farm cost allowance, averaging 5.1396 per pound of butterfat supplied, has been included In the monthly adVanee rate. These payments total £61,575 6s lld covering 2,875,307 lbs. of butterfat. Farm costs allowance of 5.1396d per pound of butterfat is hot included in the average payment of 17.4201d. The total payment, including farm cost allowance will be 22.4914d. "The farm piggery has had a very successful year; 755 baeoners,' porkers ahd maiden sows were turned off. With the new layout a't the pig farm, our pig farm manager, Mr. A. Martin, has been able to breed all the pigs required, and a large number of suppliers have ■ been able to purchase young sows that will improve the quality of their pigs. ■ "A goods rebate of 5 per cent. was paid to all suppliers on their purchases for the year ended May 31, i 1946. The amou'nt charged to | butterfat covering the deficiency in , the veterinary scheme was £319 15s, ; and equals £1 2s for each 10,000 lbs. : of butterfat supplied by our sup- 1 pliers. The James Smellie Bursaryj has been awarded to D. Tregurtha. 1 T.he thanks of the shareholders are due to the staff for the efficient manner in which they have carried out their respective duties." Comparative Statistics A table of statistics submitted to the meeting gave the following information covering the year, the figures in parentheses being that for the previous year: Number of suppliers, 435 (435) ; cream received, 7,503,411 lbs. (7,976,780); butterfat received, 2,913,891 lbs. (3,099,577) ; average cream test, 38.834 per cent. (38.857) ; butterfat used for butter making, 2,875,307 lbs. (3,093,954) ; creamery butter made, 3,494,140 lbs. (3,761,331) ; over-run, 21.522 per cent. (21.5704) ; average grade butter, 93,622 points (93.554) ; cream graded finest, 94.32 per cent. (95.49) ; cream graded first, 5.19 per cent. (4.35) ; cream graded second, .49 per cent. (.16) ; butterfat in cream sold, 38,584 lbs. (5', 623) ; total charges to f.o.b. per lb. butterfat, 1.5156d (1.4331). . Chairman's Comments "The venture of taking over the distribution of butter to Wellington has been an unqualified suc-

cess," said Mr. Vincent, when commenting on his report. While no rnoney would be received in the first year of the venture, in future the're would be good profits. from the scheme. "We can now say that' we take the butter from the factory to the retailers," he added. Mr." Vincent said the company was hoping to get a compen'satory payment for suppliers who sent milk to Wellington, and who "were put off for a time before the actual scart of the season. Mr. Vincent referred to the good work done on the company's farm. This • included an extensive piggery and dairy farm. The management of Mr. Martin on the pig far.M Would put good profits into the general fund, and ultimately it would go to the suppliers. The company's employees had work'ed well during the year, said Mr. Vincent. He thanked. the directors for the close attention they. had paid to Ihe affairs of the company, and mentioned that although; they were all farmers, and Had' their own farms to keep going, thej aitendance at the board meetings , had been a record. The meeting was then declaredj open for discussion, several important questions being asked-. " ; Mr. C. H. Arcus stated that 'at the! present time the milk lorries only: collected a percen'tage of the milk | from the su,pplier€. This meant that: some farmers had to brin'g the milk; to the nearest depot or the stationt v/fien they were supplying Welling-I ton. Mr. Vincent explained that in, some cases there was only dne sup-: plier on the whole cream route, and: this did not warrapt the lorries going, in most cases, mil-es to col•lect a few gallons of milk. However,, ! as an increased allowance had been' [given the company for collection costs, arrangements would be made; soon for the milk to be collected from the farmer's gate. Another question put forward was whether the Levin„ factory jcould not operate a dried butter - milk plant fnstead of the pig farm at present in use for the removal of surplus buttermilk. It was explained that the market for dried I buttermilk was not very stable, and jmight not prove profltable in the future. The cost of a dried skimmilk plant was approximately £300,000. ( Election of Officers The only positions to he filled were those of the 'two retiring directors and the auditors. The two retiring directors, Messrs. I. D. Parsons and M. U. Rix, were re-elected unopposed. Messrs. J. L. Arcus and Sons, and Messrs, Dempsy, Lichfield. and Spring were re-elected as auditors. General Business During the year the company took up shares in the Tararua Cooperative Farm Products, Ltd. This was necessary beeause of the li'hk up with the Wellington market, explained the chairman. At a subsequent meeting of the directors Mr. Vincent wa's re-elect-ed chairman for the ensuing year. The directors spoke appreciatiyely of Mr. Vincent's good work during ,the year.