DAIRYING OUTLOOK

Hokitika Guardian, 22 April 1921, Page 3

DAIRYING OUTLOOK

THE COMING SEASON. PROBABLE BIG INCREASE IN BUTTER PRODUCTION. VIEWS BY AN AUTHORITY. The outlook for the dairy produce industry in the coming season is not very clear, hut as the industry is of ,-S first importance to the country the l " views of an authority may be .read with interest. ’’’ “I wish 1 could tell what the prosfc > pects are,” lie said to a “New Zealand 11 Times” reporter, “hut 1 can’t. There are so many things to be considered.” First of all there were the falls in the prices of meat and wool. Those falls might induce many additional holders of land to go in for dairying next sea*c son. In fact, that was expected to be *7 the case. In the season just ended, for which ® the figures are not yet available, there n was a big increase in the production of a butter. This was due partly to the 1 fact that many cheese factories switcli- *" ed over to butter in the course of the season, and from December Ist onward made nothing hut butter. Many of the big factories have dual plants, and they are able to change over without much , difficulty. d GRAZIERS TURNING TO DAIRYING With disappointed meat and wool ° people going in for dairying next sea- '■ son, and probably for butter, there is expected to he a still further increase in the quantity of butter produced in New Zealand. In any case, there will he more cows and more milk. The settling of the returned soldiers on the " land has had something to do with the increased butter production, as a. numI her of them have gone in for dairy>f- . ing. II PROLIFIC SUMMER AND DRY AUTUMN. One thing likely to have a bearing on the next season’s production is the prolific growth of grass there was last summer. This means that more was available for hay than is usually the ! case. The welcome growth was due, of course, to the good weather experienced in most of the dairying districts. With 11 the greater quantities of hay at the disposal of the fanners the cows should fare better than usual in the coming winter, and should come into profit, next spring, in better condition than lias been the case for some years. HIT BY THE DROUGHT. n On the other hand some districts have had a very bad autumn for feed— S an exceedingly dry autumn. The ' drought bad bit the Wellington province as much as it had Lit any part 11 of New Zealand. The Wairarapa had S been badly affected, and so had the 1 Rnngitikei. Manuwntu had suffered quite enough, hut perhaps not so much as the other two districts. In Taranaki the southern areas and the binds round the coast had been severely hit. North Auckland had been, exceptionally favoured, and had escaped the troubles of the more southern districts. Perhaps Waikato had not been so fortunate as North Auckland, hut it had been less unfortunate than the districts 1 in this end of the island. AN OPPONENT TN MARGARINE. ’ On the question of the butter market, the authority mentioned that one of the things we had to contend against 1 at Home was the margarine trade. During the war there was not only enough margarine made to supply any ' lack of butter, but 53,000 tons over. If we were now going to get to those cusH tomers with butter it would have to he at the expense of the margarine marl> ket, and we had to remember that margarine was cheaper to produce than r 7 butter was. It was luird to sav how the next L , season would go. The value of meat was said to he unduly depressed. It. might revive, hut if it did not the value of cheese would.he likely to drop, and if cheese dropped it was only a question " fls to when butter would come down, o o