DAIRY DEVELOPMENT

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 94, 7 May 1937, Page 35 (Supplement)

DAIRY DEVELOPMENT

Growth of the Heretaunga Factory BIG RISE IN PRODUCTION

^ OT WITHSTANDING all the difficulties which have surrounded and still continue to surround the daiirying industry, the expansion of the industry in and aroiind Hastings has been very great indeed, and has been the means of distributing a large amount of money both in wages and to dairymen, butter-fat suppliers and others over a long period. Those dairymen who supply the needs of the town residents perform a service which is often arduous and unpleasant, and is not always appreciated at its Teal value. To those suppliers whose outPut is sent to the local factory, the same remarks apply, though perhaps not with )uite the same force. Taking weather and other conditions into consideration, the dairyman's life is not always a happy one; but the industry is of undoubted value to the district, and in the money that has been put in circulation through this channel, the employment it has given to many families, and the great bene fit the industry has been to the business of the town and the welfare of the community dairying takes a high place.. Prominent, of course, in the benefits derived from the dairying industry must be the part that has been played by the Heretaunga Co-operative Dairy Factory Co., Ltd., in bringing about the steady development of the industry. The formation of the company in 1892 arose from a suggestion that such a company was desirable, and the eeeretary of the Hastings farmers ' Union, as the result of a canvass of the district, succeeded in securing guarantees of the milk of 200 cows, and a company with a capital of £2000 was formed, there being 2000 £1 shares. Towards the end of 1893 tlie company built its factory and offiee on a two-acre site. In 1901 the price of butter-fat had risen to between 7|d and 8dj ,and in that year the Heretaunga company bought out an opposifion company at Stortford Lodge c*.d intfreased its capi-

tal to £5000. The next three years were lean years, and the company struggled to keep going despite three or four years of almost profitless business. Then it began a new life. In the 1906-1907 season the output of butter was 82 tons, and the cash paid to suppliers rose to £592 8. In the following year, with an output of 71 tons, cash payments amounting to £5790 and bonuses and dividends amounting to £825 were paid to suppliers. In the next season the payments were respectively £7500 and £490. In 1910, so greatly had the company prospered, two privately-owned factories some distance from Hastings were bought out. During that year' 235,0071bs. of butter-fat at 104d a lb. were. paid for, and for the first time in its growing history the company entered the export trade. Of its total output of 115 tons it exported 1644 boxes at a return of £4321. In 1911 the output had risen to 121§ tons, wMch was sold at an average price of 114d. In 1914-15 the company adopted a home separating scheme — an innovation from which it received immediate "benefit. In the year 1921 the company built its present excellent buildings, which it confidently feels are as up-to-date and efficient as any factory in the Dominion. The factory is fully equipped to handle an output of 1600 tons of butter a year. In February, 1930, the Waipukurau Dairy Company was bought ' out and the area over which the Heretaunga fiaetory drew its supplites was very greatly extended. The concentration of supply under one factory management" has resulted in a saving in over-. head expenses which has been to the benefit of all suppliers, but these advantages are not nearly so great as they were, owing to the much greater cost of cream-collecting over »such a large area at the present time. In 1900 the company 's output was about 150 ton3 and its pay-out £2682. In 192S its output was 1237 tons and Us pay-out about £200,000.

In 1930 (after the Waipukurau factory had been purchased) the output of the Heretaunga factory was 1511 tons, and the amount paid to suppliers was £180,967, plus a bonus of £13,480. Sinee then the Heretaunga factory 's output has maintained a substantial inerease, except in 1935, when it showed a drop owing to a prolonged drought. The figures from 1931 to 1936, both inclusive, are:— - 1931.— Output 1619 tons, pay-out £127,647, plus bonus of £13,336. 1932. — Output 2101 tons, pay-out £l50,g 88, plus bonus of £20,249. 1933. — Output 2377' tons, pay-out £138,515, plus bonus £20,133. 1934. — Output 2536 tons, pay-out £136,573, plus bonus £32,433. 1935. — Output 2270 tons, pay-out £123,961, plus bonus £37,173. 1936. — Output 2493 tons, payout £183,096. The bonus has not yet been declared, bu,t will be approximately £16,000. ■ The present secretary, Mr. H. R. von Dadelszen, has held that office for the past 17 years.