THE TREND OF PRICES.

Shannon News, 11 December 1925, Page 3

THE TREND OF PRICES.

The drop in sheep pieces has been. chiefly caused .by the reduction in this year's freezing rates compared ' with those ruling at this time last year, and the heavy losses made by v the freezing companies. Last year, •for example, lamb was worth from lid-to Is, including the skin, whereas the same lamb to-day would be worth something, in Jhe vicinity of 9Jd.' Wether mutton mat was quoted 8d to BJd 'at tire close of last season, is to-day worth 6d only, accounted for by the fall in prices, on the London market. Again, last year the freezing companies were, offering Is per lb for lamb, and the wool would have been worth approximately'2s. At the present time that wool is worth only 12d to. 14*1'. In addition to this the dry weather in Hawkes Bay and Wairarapa, particularly the former, has forced many owners of property to reduce their stock, which -they accomplished iby placing sheep on a falling market, an action that always is attended wjfth disastrous results. According to. the observation of several well-known authorities the decline in cattle prices' does not appear to he wholly justified. A few weeks ago fat cattle were very scarce and fawners'-in the North Island were receiving up to £2 a hundred pounds for bullock beef, while the South Island article brought - up to £3 a hundred. Anyone with" * any sense of proportion must have known that those prices could last only while there * remained a temporary shortage of beef, and when the . new season's Sbeef came on the market prices would naturally be ruled •on a freezing basis. Consequently, those farmers who had counted on their product bringing k high price, and iii the price being maintained, would be disappointed. The decline in other store cattle is ( chiefly due to the extremely dry and unseasonable weather on the East Coast, thousands of head having Dean shitted to the central market at Fending, and bringing a .low figure. . x ' ' '*'\