DAIRY PRODUCE CONGESTION

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2955, 19 December 1916, Page 8

DAIRY PRODUCE CONGESTION

'Z ■ 'ACOTE IN TAIUNAKI. Our Special Correspondent.) December 18. ''-Somo farmers in the- Taraiiaki dis'trict were greatly concerned because, , in order to keep down the price of ...butter, the National Government made : '.ui. impost of Jd. per lb." on tho oheese- ■-. men, Despito protests, 'the Minister - of Agrioultur© |ias declined to intor- ' "fere with the decision arrived at, and fanners will have to bo satisfied with ' '.the present arrangement for tho time /being- There is, however, something more serious than a 3d. levy facing the producers ofi the Dominion, namely, the want of ships at a time they are so -badly required. It is now the flush ■of tho season, and there appears to bo only one vessel timed to leave _ Wellington in January, and a serious congestion 6eems . probable. ,'At the Patea Freezing Works thero is .-in store !28,000 crates of oheeso, valued at- £168,000, whilst at Moturoa there -; are 21,000 crates.of cliee6o of an esti-y-nutted value of-£126,000, and 20,000 boxes of butter worth £72,000 at least, "the total value afc Now Plymouth being thus £200,000, or a grand total of £368,000 between tho two stores. Tho directors of 'the ;Moturoa .' Freezing Works are doing their -best to copo with the difficulty, and are circularising factories to ascertain what "suitable . storage'facilities they have, but it'is not anticipated that very much help bo available from that source. Th© 'financial aspect to farmers is conse■quently serious, and it is understood .... that most of tho factories' directors havo decided (to keep advances down ,-ns_low as, possible to ensure payments "being kept up. One shilling per pound ; will probably be paid out by the majority of the Taranaki factories for 'November butter-fat supplies.