Farming Column

Hokitika Guardian, 10 September 1932, Page 8

Farming Column

DAIRY PkODUGE BOARD. REVIEW OF PAST SEASON. v : Conditions in the dairying industry during the past seasOli, Jns>r£ pur* -jcuiarly those relating to iriariioting, ,»re Comprehensively reyiewed in th® annual report of the .New Zealand JJairv Produce Board. The board s statement of accounts shows that the -jwpdrt 40vy collected on butter and cheese for th e twelve months ended July 31, 1932, yielded £40,680 l a tt'd. ‘.ueeaest fiioin mvtestmenta amounted to £377 IBs 6d, making a total income of £41,668 Os 2d.totalled £53,158 '6s Bd. f ' \ 'y/ The board states that the; 'ekpeWes ~f the board under the heading “iof •Management” were, for the head office >n New Zealand £5873 5s lOd, and ..ondon office £6523 10s Id. . ■ Other► expenses toalled £13,547 9a, l6d. In. .iddition the sum of £3803 waa' spent on research, , and £5855 ds a. subsidy l to herd-tubing which, together iwith £17,555 spent on advertising .New land butter and cheese in Great Bri- ; j,in. brought the total expenditure.i ; to £53,158 6s 4d. . . . _ S s;*’V. Discussing the past season’s . produc-t .ion, the report states with the; exception of the North jAuck’-and district id Southland, the conditions;, had , , been favourable for any greatly mf

production. “Given a season of good conditions for .production, with .1 fou son able 'application of fertilisers, 1931-32 season should have resulted in a much increased production, as the (lumber of cows in milk, it is estimate ad, has increased By nearly 200,000,” it continuee. "There is a, steady annual Increase in this connection, and as in periods of financial ~ depression tuirying is thS class of farming .which has found most favour, it v'.cpn,j6e;.expected that this increase accelerated. "The financial crisis ig' still Bearing very heavily upon the primary proiiicer.. cost of production appears .foi• fie .almost, stationary, and .unless; relief is forthcoming ;in the not f»i diafcamt (future, the outlook is dark, indeed. The cloud of (fepressioh.ktili Imngs heavily over every market Vin tire world. •

‘•By international action alone and by thp whole-hearted co-operatjon, jjjj, ieoet' .by the countrieswith the," largest stakes and heaviest responsibilities in Preserving the. stability of the natiohs; ,'tnp the flood l)o brought back to saf| Hd ordered channels. In spite of this, urgent need of co-operation, we find ‘hnt while there have been groping' after international regulations in con;, lection with certain commodities sue!,wheat, the dairy industry finds it-; self, fase to -fase' with a .position. : ir which practicably every country is b-- •• ing r ; nsr-fenccd in the interest of thi', commodity.” ... AUVAN i AGEr. "i:

. , Kefererite is made to '■tile -pOosioirov j of Eastern markets. it is :popiteU .ou.j 'in the report that' it is less eoat.y ;'t>.; iup ip uermany and the- Cont>iifn j than to ship to Easteni ■ "It. it| questionable if 'in the long run thii Continental outlet may not be mortj protitabie,” adds the report.. ’ ; • • j “Australia possesses enormous advan-; vages over New Zealand in' her dost; proximity- to the 'East with a regular ■ •teamer service, added to a high fgv-j ourabl« exchange rate, and an expor oonufi under th e Paterson plan. The exchanges advantages wild disappear n..j time, but Australia must always retail a price advantage. Looking at the East-1 era position generally, it is apparen .that price must always be the determ-n ing factor, assuming quality is equal, i'lie other point lies in the fact th the huge populations of the East comprise main’.y peoples on a bare sub i'stence standard of living, qnd : mab}’. years must elapse before ithdiir pui)' basing power, enables them to t’ •

igh-class p-roducts such as butter and to a lesser extent' cbJes >. ’' ' V

The report continues : “It is estimated that the total for 1932 will not fall fki ...ort of 450*000 tons. In view of these figures, it is certainly encouraging that there are no accumulations of stocks, xihis position ;hds only been inad e possible -by the Jew retail price of butter j' a. price so ' low that .it does . not pay khe producer's cost of production. The actual consumption of butter per, .capita 1 population in Britain hag . .increased iVo.il i-.. iplb. in . } 1/24,, to • kO.oplD. in 1931, an increate .of 40 per cent. .Ii •msiciKt 01 i».iag the imports of '1924, .«hdil imports were not quite normal, the 1926 imports are compared with iaol, it shows an increase of 45 per cent, in imports. “vVithout tile increased consumption this Dominion’s dairy industry wpuld have indeed been in a deplorable position. The increased consumption in butter has been to some extent at the expense, of margarine, the use of which has fallen, it is estimated, from 12.35 b per head of population in 1924 to 9.25 id 1931., This drop in consumption •i-rly. all took place in 1931, “When the fpll blast of low-priced butter compete tion -was felt by the -margarine trade. "It was only in 1931 that the retail prices of, were forced doyfn to 8d aryd 10d. The total consumption of butter and margarine combined has increased between 1924 and 1931 bv 2.8 lb, per head, the combined figures be in;; IW. 27 U'ri • 1931, 29.911 b. his increase of 2.81 b. Is due, ho doubt, to a more generous use of but* NT. resulting from the lower price. It •<"vdd upbear that market saturation point hals almost been reached with V>tb commodities at the present level of prosperity. Only from 'improved purchasing power on the part of . tifie' population of Great Britain can , there; j>3 any; permanent fish in. prices..'’ '■

‘Referring to quality the report states that a very large percentage of . Zeftijahd Butter exported was grades finest, but ffiere was still room for improvement, not only in lifting the fir . grade into finest, but in manufacturng a higher grade of finest from a nun, her of. factories, thus making for gr a er uniformity. The board; claims that in no count, in the world i* shipping of dairy .1 produce so well organised as in N'e Zealand.

FACTORIES’ OVER-RUN

EXPLANATION OF PRINCIPLE.

‘'The question of over-run in butter factories has. a great deal of publicity lately, and I would tak e this opportunity of Briefly 'explaining some of the fundamental principles in reggcV to the over-run’s connection with the manufacture of butter and its effect on th e actual return to the supplier,’’ said Mr J. M. McDonald, manager of the Cheltenham Dairy Company, at the annual meeting.

"Over-run, ”v 'said Mr McDonald, “is thp tdiffdrciace between (the butter fat the supplier'is paid for and the amount of comtfterciah butter made. When r supplier, delivers to the factory a, defin ite i ’ambiiht , '6f butterfat, that butter fat will make, under recognised factory practice- a definite amount of butter and' it will-make no difference to the amount bf butter made whether th p suppliers are paid for ail of the butter fat, half of it, or, for that matter, none of it.-'' , i ■■■• “The " oVOTi-run Is not increase' through more butter being made frOn a given of butterfat paid for. but can' only be increased beyond th f recognised normal point by using but* terfat that is not paid, for.' “>I consider that during th e presen' crisis it ' 'is going to make matters in* finitely worse for the dairy . farrue! himself if the dairy companies inflates the over-run to make it appear tha' th e y dairy farmers are receiving mort tha,h, they actually do,’* said Mr Me* Dunalf 1, I’l deprecating high: bver-ruUrr. “It; ha? been proved that in some cases more butter was exported in the fin isheid butter than.j'was paid for' by th fatitory’. -'*'' T-his "c:tearTy shb’Ws that soipetiiing is at fault as, no matter how cirefully/ your ■manufacture is watch-, ed, it <is ;<sonsidered that 2 per cent, of? the to; lh e factory is a jliinimuiii'loss in manufacture. V “It appr;ars to me that-a great'dan ter to-day lies in the efforts of .soin< fairy companies, and also many iridi •ideal farmers, in trying to raak e th *'■ returns appear higher than they actual ly are. vTn ctinfe&i such as these th' closer we can keep to the facts th' •Wauer ■we will return to hnppiei j times.” h .

MILK AND CREAM, POLLUTION' GREAT CAiRE JOS DEMANDED

It is a well-established fact—thou,,*

, ft . c uot ;, ‘aa - yet sufficiently recogn-a.. oy dairymen—that millo and cream ar- • ery delibdte; that they readily abso» taints and odours, and that their iia> our and keeping qualities are easily spoilt.

Scrupulous c ft re must be takei ohei-eforey • to prevent their pol.utio'not merely by -dust, dirt and flies and by -the ; minute portions of th fin e milk or curd which adhere to vessels unless ..they are regularity am thoroughly ; rinsed, scalded, anti ■iftourod bright, but also, by On amelia and, taints given off from du-nj heaps, dirty bails and yards, neglecedi skim receptacles, and sour milk rubbish' end filth. These should not 'ip allowed to' accumulate or reman near places where cows are miilkec nor where milk or cream is stored. The’ dteaner milk and cream is kept the longer they will keep sweet and the'better will be the class of blitter made from them. Smokin; tobacco while engaged in the milking shed or'milk room taints the milk, an< must not he permitted. Protection from the sun must be provided for ’ cans containing milk or cream in transit by the provision of hoods raised 12 inches above the can? on vehicles used for this purpose, and the transport vehicle must be maintain ed' in a 1 clean condition. The milk or cream must not be exposed to contamination from animals, manure, or othe • sources. •

'pare at all points is demanded o’ the dairyman—his pocket demands it and so in certain relations does tin law. ■

A FDOTJMISHING INDUSTRY

jin the State of Mississippi, the only persons who appeal’ to be flourishing arb the auctioneers They are sell\n<j farms by thousands because of unpaid taxes. In one day last month 74 sheriff? engaged selling . 3fi,099 \farms. Not' only did they put ut> 20 per cent, of nil the farms, but they also disposed of 12 to 15 per cent, of all the tpuyn property in the State. • $W found it worth while to buy: the insurance compares, the lean societies, aind ; the ttiortgage holders bought in a- -goodly portion main l to. safeguard their securities. Bn 1 the State itself had to, hold most of the farms, and now it has over -• bullion acres to farm and does no 1 know what to do.