BREEDING EWES DEMAND

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 144, 10 February 1939, Page 4

BREEDING EWES DEMAND

WAIKATO CONSIGNMENTS MOST from: coast A Hamilton correspondent writes: “Reports from Gisborne stating that difficulty in disposing of breeding ewes in the Waikato is likely to result in smaller trade between the two districts are denied by leading Hamilton stock agencies.” The position in regard to the Gis-*' borne district is that a big demand from Hawke’s Bay this season will deflect into a new market large numbers that might have gone to the Waikato, and there is still a disinclination on the part of slieepowners in Poverty Bay to sell on consignment, preferring the forward deals, in which they can be certain of the return they will receive. In the Coast districts the position is different. Flockowners there Jook to the Waikato as the only outlet for their sheep, and are content to forward their sheep on consignment. The result is that the usual number of sheep are going from those districts to the Waikato both overland and by boat; in fact, the numbers from there appear to bo slightly larger than last summer. However, the grand totals from the combined Poverty Bay and Cbast districts moving northwards must be considerably smaller than in recent years. The Coast areas contribute approximately 100.000 sheep to the Waikato each year, the remainder being from Poverty Bay stations. No figures are available yet. regarding the movements of sheep, but the. roads from the Cbast to the Bay of Plenty are crowded with sheep, and the demand for shipping space exceeds the supply, while to the south the EastCoast coping with the biggest rush it has yet experienced, twoengined trains running nightly.