The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1933. THE BUTTER CRISIS.

Hokitika Guardian, 23 February 1933, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1933. THE BUTTER CRISIS.

A cjuticao stago has been reached with regard to the disposal of hew Zealand butter. The principal market for the Dominion has been the United Kingdom, and the trade has run sniOQthily. Lately English prices have fallen below 80s per cwt, which even with the benefit of the exchange, is less than nine pence per pound at Horne, and costs of storage, grading and freight have to be deducted. New Zealand butter is selling at ten pence ■at Home, and despite this low price, consumption is not increasing notably. There 1 is a- considerable glut of Dominion butter on the English market. It i? 4 arriving a.i the t.<Ae otf about 2,000 tons per week, and this flush has no doubt helped to depress prices. The New Zealand dairy farmer has been encouraged to increase production in the past, and he lias increased it in the present- by top dressing, herd testing and other aids, so that his gross return even at the lower price will be in substance equal to the yield at the higher rate for smaller production. Dair farmers elsewhere have been acting similarly and the glut of the produce has been increased. At Home the English farmer has turned * his attention to more intensive production, and the imported commodity from oversea countries has affected his market also. When the Ottawa Conference deliberated it was decided to restrict imports of dairy produce into the United Kingdom from foreign countries, and it was hoped this would help the Empire marketing from overseas. But the percentage was small, and has ha.l comparatively little effect on the market In consumption. In the interim price levels have been depressed sadly, and with the- New Zealand dairymen receiving as low as seven pence per pound for butter fait, the industry cannot be said to be in a flourishing condition. It is at this very unfavourable juncture that there is a proposal to restrict the export of butter from New Zealand for the English market, and if put into effect this must have a further adverse effect on prices. The Hush of the season for Dominion production is now passing, but the season lias been such an extraordinary one for feed, that the total output wi’l exceed the previous record. Over 100,000 tons of butter were exported in 1931-32, as against over 95,000 tons the previous year. No doubt the increase for 1932-33 will be greater still. The negotiations in regard to a quota export- are now proceeding. The Dairy Export Control Board has made- out a good case for the Dominion, and there has been some backing from the London newspapers, but the outcome is not known yet. If prices ware to rise, a restricted export would not be of such ill-effect, but much hardship would be done to those who could not participate in the improvement of Home prices. On the other hand a- check on export will mean a heavy storing of butter in New Zealand and a further drop' in market value. The situation it- can he well understood, is serious to New Zealand as a whole. The export value of butter is ten or eleven millions annually, and any serious check in this flow of wealth to the producer must ■ have a far reaching result.