DAIRY PRODUCE BOARD.

Shannon News, 6 September 1929, Page 1

DAIRY PRODUCE BOARD.

MB. W. A. lORNS ADDRESSES

FARMERS.

VOTE OF CONFIDENCE PASSED.

Mr. W. A. lorns, chairman of the Dairy Produce Board, on Saturday addressed a meeting of farmers at Carterton on matters pertaining to the policy and activities of the Board. Mr. li. Bassett, chairman of the Dalofield Dairy' Co., presided. At the conclusion -of-me meeting a vote of thanks to Mr. lorns for his address and confidence in him as their representative on the Dairy Produce Board was carried without a dissentient voice being raised. Mr. lorns said that he had represented 'them for six years. He claimed that the Board, which was in a good financial position, had rendered wonderful service. It was only by having tne power on the Statute Book that the Bqard had been able to make the favourable contracts into which it had entered. The recent 'contracts entered into, he said, would be of great benefit to the industry. • ■ ■ ■ j Shipping Facilities.

, "Referring to shipping arrangements, Mr. lorns detailed the steps taken by the Board to gauge the output of dairy .produce and to ensure constant shippings from the Dominion. The shipping allocations were a big undertaking. The' Board was not satisfied with the arrivals in the Old Country, but the shippings from New Zealand were fairly satisfactory. Some boats were delayed on the journey, which was accomplished in some cases in 33 days, but in others in 40 days. At present they were exporting between 160,000 and 170,000 tons of cheese' and butter, the produce being forwarded last year in .a hundred different shipments. The Board, Mr. lorns went on to observe, had done wonders iu attending to facilities for,the shipping of produce. Representatives of the Board boarded the boats and pointed out ways in which the carriage of the produce could be improved. Prior to the Board's formation that was not done. He was pleased to say that many of the old ships were being gradually scrapped and six boats now had machinery installedfor the carriage of cheese at: the right''fem : perature) as outlined by the Board. Officers of'the Board also carried out careful inspections on all boats arriving in the Old Country, and attended to handling methods. The dairy PJ'ck duce had-to %e*;han-dle'd' under'" the {best possible conditions to ensure the maintenance of its'quality. Prior to the Board's establishment much of the produce was-damaged in the Old Country, but that did not happen now, and was in itself a great gain to the dairy produce of New Zealand. The Board,had some difficulty in making cool storage contracts at Home, but now it had facilities in this category that were not formerly available. When he first went to England it was impossible to get authentic information on the amount of dairy produce in cold storage in that country or as to the quantities that went out of storage from day to day. 'The Board had stipulated that its inspectors should haye the right of access to these cold stores to see that the temperature and other things were right, and they recorded the-quantity of produce going into storage and the quantity going out, so that the Board would be able to judge the consumption lemand of dairy produce in England.

Publicity Campaign. Mr. l'orns went on to refer at some length to the publicity campaign whicl the Board had entered upon for sonn considerable time. _ When he was ii. England he assisted to lay the founda lion of most of the schemes whicl were in operation to-day. The Board he said, spent ten times as much -per •inmmi in advertising dairy produce a 'k>. Government did 0:1 the whole 0. he exports of the country, worth £•"). ,()O,OOU. Tlic i-'Oard had had good re ■mlts froiii its present policy of pub icity, on winch last year £.19,000 wa:pent. Mr. lorns detailed the variousteps taken to boost New Zealand';, dairy produce in the Old Country. One of the more important schemes was to .trrange a.splays at various exehibitions in different parts of the country, at which ample cartons of butter _ and cheese were sold under a national brand and in a wrapper which gave the good points of New Zealand's produce and listed the retailers selling it. That scheme had met with much success a ad since the exhibitions started, considerably more dairy produce had been sold. The Board also frequently took a shop in the smaller towns for exhibition purposes, and other retail shops also had displays of New Zealand produce, for which the Board supplied por-urs. Mr. loms also mentioned other cms of advertising employed by the Board, including films of the butter and cheese industries, and other films used in cooperation with the High Commissioner. There was also a contract with a chain of restaurants around London for the use of only New Zealand butter and cheese. It' was by these means that large numbers of people were acquainted with New Zealand dairy produce and its consumption increased. Work of Massey College. Eef erring to Massey College, he considered the Board's subsidy to be money well spent. He was hopeful of the time to come when Massey College would prove itself to be the greatest boon to the dairy industry of New Zea-

land. The problem of standardised cheese had been given considerable attention by the Board last year. They were looking into the question of whether it would prejudice the sales of full cream cheese, but so far there was , nothing to indicate that result. They Board had received many opinions from - the trade at Home, but nothing yet. seemed to be detrimental. The reports ' about waxing were rather conflicting, .' and the Board could not tell them at present, whether it was desirable or ' not. The Board was experimenting with different temperatures for the storage of cheese, and had arranged •vith a research laboratory in England to check up the cheese and determine the best temperature.

Savings Effected.'.

Mr. lorns .said that the Board was ■ ' saving over a quarter of a million pounds in the reduction of shipping, -reights compared with the jcost before .he Board was established. Keferring to costing, Mr. lorns said that itamounted to only l-64d per lb'of cheese and 1-V,'2d per lb of butter. The reduc-

tions on marine insuranccyeool storage, : and the last live per cent, drop 0:1 the iTeigbt contract amounted to l-16d per ' x lb. These figures represented a return - : L'our times what was paid to the Board. In ;costing this year, -the Board had ' '

saved about £6500. Board's Policy. The policy of the Board was to popularise the country's produce. It was endeavouring to broaden the distribution of its produce, and to get the ship-

ping companies to give a more regular service to the West Coast of England, Considerable trade had arisen in Can- ;' ada. The Board was watching the _:■ various markets and gathering all \'i available information. It w r as neces- '-' sary for the,farmers to supply the best '' possible product to the factory so that "* butter and cheese of the highest grade could be produced.

Statement Contradicted,

Mr. lorns contradicted a recent statement by Mr. Brechin, of Pahiatua, that \ some cheese from the North Tiraumea \ Company had been carried round the coast of New Zealand for 82 days before being despatched overseas. Mr. :

lorns said that the total output of that factory was 2947 crates, of which 1973 crates were shipped from Wellington ■ V direct to the Old Country. A quantity ~ of 132 crates, said Mr. lorns, had been ■' - carried round the coast for 21 days. : Mr. Brechin had evidently made a mis- ■ V take. ' . - : ; Mr. lorns answered a number of -'■, questions; and on the motion of Mr. Bassett, was accorded a vote of thanks ''-. for his address, and confidence in him' as their representative on the Board,