A RECORD YEAR

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 48, 19 May 1927, Page 2

A RECORD YEAR

DAIRY PRODUCE FIGURES MR. GROUNDS OPTIMISTIC (Special to THE SUN.) PALMERSTON NORTH, To-day. In spite of the admittedly lower prices which ruled throughout the season for dairy produce the aggregate cash income of the New Zealand dairyman for the nine months, August 1926, to April 1927, will probably exceed that of the corresponding period for the previous year. In making that statement at Pahiatua yesterday, Mr. W. Grounds, chairman of the Dairy Produce Control Board, went further. He said that there was every prospect of the season proving a record one. For the nine months, August to April, there were graded this year 66,456 tons of butter, an increase of 12.3 per cent, over the corresponding period of last year. In the case of cheese the gradings were 70,517 tons, an increase of 3.1 per cent, over the same period last year. This autumn’s production was continuing to be good, and it was estimated that the total shipments for the full season would be 2,500,000 boxes, or nearly 400,000 boxes —10,000 tons—greater than last year. The cheese exports for the full dairy season were estimated to reach 1,080,001) crates, nearly 100,000 crates, or 7,000 tons, above last year’s shipments. The cheese total will be an absolute record of shipments for this period, but butter would not quite break the 1924-25 figures.